Chain Reaction: a collision of interests
by Grimgor Ironhide
Summary: The TSAB finds and collects the Holy Grail taking it to be a Lost Logia, in response the Grail summons the servants to take it back from Mid-Childa by force. The servants inevitably find themselves facing Nanoha and her friends.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Nanoha, Fate/Stay/Night or any other show that this fic crosses over with or references.

Warning: this fic's point of view shifts regularly and I tend to be a little dry in some places.

Chain Reaction: a collision of interests

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(A note to all readers: This Fic is currently in the process of being rewritten under another title in which many changes to the original chapters will be made. This chapter itself has been rewritten and edited several times but I am now returning it to its almost completely original state for the benefit of being able to look back at how it used to be. If you are new to this story you may want to skip this first chapter, it is not very good to say the least and the story is understandable from the start of the second Chapter. Plot summary of this chapter is simply that the TSAB retrieves the Grail from Fate Stay Night and takes it back to Mid Childa starting the entire conflict.)

Chapter one: Roots of Conflict

Daichi Murano stood behind the demolition barrier and surveyed the scene through a viewing screen with a mixture of pride and concern. As things stood his team was currently 400 yards beneath the soil of the planet Earth's moon.

Not that he called it that though. To Daichi and most of his Archaeological team it was only Non-Administered world # 97, just another boring un-magical world hanging in the void, unaware of the vast civilized, space faring world that existed in the infinite dimensions all around it.

Now the little blue planet that the moon orbited was not so far from first contact. In 50 or so years at the rate they were going it was likely that they would realize the existence of Magic and be ready to learn of their neighbors and of the many parallel universes that their neighbors came from. Who knew? Maybe they would even join the great Organization. The Time Space Administration Bureau was always on the look out for newly enlightened planets to guide in the development of advanced Magic and Technology. It was after all the business of the TSAB, largest force in the known multiverse as it was, to introduce the newcomers in the game and to make sure that they transitioned into the larger world smoothly.

It was part of the reason that the TSAB was the undisputed strongest force in the known multiverse. Comprised of nearly 100 planets and possessing the strongest and most organized Mage force in the world, they kept a strong but benevolent watch on the the rest of the space faring civilizations. Policing the magical world, maintaining the peace and even monitoring cultural growth were all part of the massive Interdimensonal security forces function.

This however was all in the back of Daichis head. For now Earth was still just another Non-Administered world and as such held no interest to the ambitious Mage Scholar who was surveying his dig sight. He was there for one reason. The thing that was possibly hidden somewhere in this little backwater moon. Whatever that was.

Below him stretched a maze of trenches crisscrossing through the rough cavern that they had carved out for themselves. The trenches formed a crude road through the vast uneven piles of ruble that were left over from the initial drilling they had done to get down here. Supports and scaffolding littered the sight straining to maintain the barriers that kept several tons of loose rock from refilling the lanes carved by the digger bots.

As he observed the workers preparing for the controlled blast that would hopefully remove those accursed doors, he wondered what would happen if this didn't work, if they couldn't get through what would he do? His career would be ruined... _NO_, he steadied himself, the mere fact the doors were present proved that at least something worthwhile was down here. Despite his current anxiety he looked back on the last seven months with satisfaction.

About 17 years ago the TSAB Branch of Inter Dimensional Observation detected a small magical power pulse coming from the non-administered world # 97. Considering that the nearest Observational probe at the time was a long, LONG way away from non-administered world #97 even by inter dimensional standards, that meant that whatever had gone off had to have been huge. The event had received some measure of attention by TSAB officials and various scientists but it was overshadowed shortly after by other more relevant happenings among the administered worlds. In the end a small expedition (consisting of only 20 people including the cook and 2 tourists who hitched a ride) was sent to the plant to investigate, they stayed for a week (the official minimum amount of time that could legally be spent on investigations of that nature) before coming back with a report that nothing out of the ordinary had been discovered. It was theorized that the pulse had come from somewhere else and that it had somehow been reflected or warped through space to appear so that it came from the non-administered word, maybe by a rift or wormhole. The case was labeled "under investigation and then filled away never to be reviewed until nearly 17 years later.

7 and ½ months ago Daichi Murano had been in a tight spot. Having moved to the central planet of the TSAB, the famed Mid-Childa, in order to be closer to the center of the world at large, he had embarked on his carrier as an archeologist.

Unlike in most worlds that had yet to discover magic where it was an non critical science, in the administered worlds Archeology was both prestigious and very central to the TSAB itself. The ancient civilization of Belka that had preceded the TSAB had been a very powerful magically and their fall had left behind countless powerful objects that had came to be called Lost Logia. As powerful and dangerous artifacts, discovering and monitoring them was a major part of the TSAB's function. Because of this Archeologists were held in very high esteem and could become very rich and powerful from their work.

However for Daichi, things had not panned out. Not at all.

Trying his hand at writing, Diachi's latest project had gone down the drain after some nosy little librarian had taken notice of it and written an article that pointed out several holes in his theory that he had hoped would go unnoticed. The project had ended with a slap in the face to his already dubious reputation. Hearing about this some of his less savory...'benefactors'... had showed up and inquired as to where their money was. He had narrowly escaped only by virtue of his Familiar Grib.

Years of magical research had pushed the art of Familiar creation to a level that once would have been considered impossible. Rather than the old Familiars who were little more than animals slightly attuned to their Masters, modern Familiars in the Administered worlds were creatures who had been granted full sentience by a Mage. Being able to assume human form and speak, they were almost completely their own individuals who could think and feel as clearly as their Masters.

Thus it was that his Familiar had managed to save him when he could not. While Diachi had been reduced to a stuttering wreak by the men who had invaded his house, Grib had kept his cool and was somehow able to do some very smooth talking and defuse the situation.

After the immediate threat of having his thumb broken had abated, Daichi had wanted to get out of Mid-Childa for a while. Never one to cater to his masters wishes (Often to Daichi's annoyance) his familiar had opposed this.

"You want to run?"said Grib.

"Whats that supposed to mean? We have got to get out of here or else I will turn up dead in an alley somewhere! Daichi shouted at the large brown rat who was perched on top of the counter in his apartment. "besides aren't you the one who usually ducks out when thing go bad?"

"Don't be a fool, if you run now it will be allot worse for us." the little rodent Familiar said.

"Are you crazy? What could worse than staying here? My reputation is gone, and those loan sharks are pissed! Just because you got rid of them for now doesn't mean anything, they'll be back!"

Grib seemed to sigh as he endured his masters continuing tirade, _Daichi was so dull_ the rat thought.

"This is all your fault!" Daichi continued, pacing around the room " Going to those thugs for easy money was your idea!"

Grib began to feel angry at that, his Master yelling at him was nothing new but most of the time Daichis outbursts were just the angry ramblings of an idiot who was taking his anger out on whoever was under him. Not to say that they weren't now but that was besides the point, Grib rarely made actual mistakes in his plans but going to Mid-Childas nearly nonexistent underground for money was certainly a bad idea. Grib hated people noticing his mistakes and he hated them bringing them up even more.

"Please Master think for once." Daichi fell silent like always once Grib started talking.

"Currently we are in Cranagan, The capital of Mid-Childa and by extension the TSAB itself. We are living in probably the most crime free city on one of the most crime free planets in the universe. If not the multiverse" he added as an afterthought.

"Despite what those little men threaten, people don't just vanish in this town, especially not scientists. However if we left we would certainly be going into more dangerous areas, places were groups like that have more power, to run would be foolhardy they would just follow. Also if we left, the archaeological community would notice and your rep would be destroyed irreparably, you would always be remembered as the one who ran once his little farce of a history project fell apart."

Daichi flinched "it wasn't that bad" he mumbled. " If that stupid librarian hadn't pointed out a few of my more loose interpretations of Belkan history then it would have probably worked out. What was his name again?"

"Yuuno I think it was now don't change the subject" snapped Grib.

"Yunno... I will remember that meddler" mumbled Daichi

"Pay attention! All we need to do is find another project, one that doesn't involve suggesting that Saint King Olive was a political puppet of the Duke of Zanafla!"

"Another project? But how? I'm laughing stock right now and I'm broke."

"You let me worry about that, just sit back and do what I tell you like always."

Grib was Daichis familiar, they had met one night about 8 years ago when Daichi was studying to become a archaeologist, he had been 20 years old back then, a medium sized young man with brownish hair and a broad face set with roundish eyes. One night when Daichi was leaving his favorite bar a truck ran over a rat in the street. Normally he would have passed on without a thought, but at the time he was very drunk. He woke up the next morning in his friends apartment covered in vomit with no recollection of the night before, and a large sewer rat perched on the dresser calling him master.

After the initial shock of having a familiar suddenly and said familiar being a rat, he managed to hammer out that one of his friends who was also very drunk that night, had bet him that he couldn't use magic like he usually did when drunk. Despite being a bad student Daichi had always been a good mage (C at the time, B now) and being drunk had apparently not only not hindered that but helped it. It also apparently gave him horrible taste in animals. Why he decided to make a familiar rather than cast some other spell he didn't know.

At first he shunned the little creature who called itself Grib, but he had warmed up to it over time. First off he was the only student in the university with a familiar even if it was a rat, secondly Grib quickly proved himself incredibly useful. The sly rat had an almost instinctive grasp of how to work around rules to get what he or his Master wanted and if that didn't work he was also a skilled and subtle thief. At the time Daichi was almost certainly going to flunk his final exam but Grib found a way to fool the teacher and let Daichi cheat his way through uncaught, as a result Daichi scored almost perfectly and graduated near the top of the class.

Being accepted at as an archaeologist was a cinch after that and he had managed to work his way up the social chain by introducing himself to the right people. The rat helped with this, possessing an almost 6th sense about who was safe to befriend and who was destined to drag you down. .When he was expected to show actual work Grib came in handy again by stealing the mostly finished paper of a academy student, Daichi filled in the unwritten gaps , changed it a little and they were in business. Eventual the duo made it all the way to the center of the TSAB itself, Mid-Childa. Then things had fallen apart and they were forced to look for another project.

Grib found one in short order.

"Master look at this"

Grib was on the computer, operating the mouse with his arms and then running over and working the keyboard with his tiny rat feet. He accomplished this with surprising efficiency considering his size. The reason that Grib was forced to work the computer in animal form was that Daichi did not really have enough mana to ever give him a human body for more than a few hours though Daichi was loath to admit this.

" It looks like 17 years ago a massive surge of magical energy and some other unidentified elements were detected by a long range scanning probe coming from... lets see... Non-administered world #97. It caused a small stir when it happened but it looks like it was forgotten rather quickly... I wonder why."

"Uummm... how does this help us?"

"Hmmmm well the time at which this was happening at cant have given the scientific community much motivation to look into it, 17 years ago they were just starting to find all those Gatian artifacts on Lamadria that everyone thought were myths so I think that this event got written off."

"How did you know that? I thought I was the Archaeologist and I don't even know that. You must read way to much."

Grib rolled his eyes internally. "No master I just looked up the date when this was happening and then looked up the major scientific events going on at the time."

"Oh. Now look they figured out what caused it see, it says that it was a rift or a reflection from somewhere else and that they checked it out and didn't find anything."

"No. No that's just them writing it off because they don't know how it happened and weren't really interested at the time."said Grib.

"How do you know huh?"

"Because that's like something you would come up with if I couldn't figure something out and you still had to explain it, its a lot like what you DID come up with when that Yuuno character asked you to explain how the-"

"Okay okay I get your point! You don't need to bring that up!"

"Also look at the departure and return date they are almost only a week apart! Someone didn't look into this well at all."

"So what... you think we should look into this or something? If people weren't interested then why would they be now? It was a minor incident almost 18 years ago we would be laughed at for even bringing it up. I thought you wanted me to go after something big?"

"This is big you idiot! Look if we just announced that we were investigating this we **would** be laughed at, buuut if we first pointed out the obvious, the fact that this was handled so poorly back in the day, **then** they would pay attention."

"Why?"

"Why? You know as well as I do how much the TSAB hates the idea of a botched job. If we show them a stain on their record of excellence and then offer to remove it we will be seen as crusaders and upholders of the TSAB's standards! Even if we don't find anything we can still make it seem worth the effort if we emphasize that we are being thorough and giving a long neglected project the attention it deserves.

"Ha! This is great! Grib you are a genius!"

"Yes I know" the rat replied smugly.

So it was Daichi brought the old case to the attention of the TSAB board of archeology and offered to look into it, they gave him the green light after a small debate. Unsurprisingly he didn't get much in the way of funds. So it was that Daichi and Grib found themselves setting out to non-administered world #97 with a small archeology team on an out of date science vessel named the Lolarie.

They were joined by a Mage who was skilled in the more subtle arts of detection that they had hired. Also going with them were two younger rather naive archaeologists who were hoping to make a name for themselves with the expedition, Grib had been against taking them but they had offered to work for very little and Grib finally consented that having to few expedition members would look suspicious. The trip to earth took about a week, upon there arrival they started making preparation for the investigation. Almost right of the bat things did not go as planed. Daichi and Grib had gone to earth without ever really expecting to find anything, and were at first only planing on making a token effort to locate a possible explanation for the 17 years gone power surge. The two younger archaeologists that had tagged along however were expecting the expedition to spare no efforts in the pursuit of the mystery and had immediately set out in a burst of enthusiasm about trying to find any "residual evidence" practically by hand. Had the TSAB or any stories involving it ever been dramatized in a strange Earth genre called Anime, the looks on Grib and Daichi's faces would have probably had large tear shaped drops of fluid illustrated somewhere around the backs of their heads.

Both of them knew that the chances of "residual evidence" from a magical surge hanging around after 17 years was so close to nill it was laughable. The chances of two 20 years old class C- mages detecting residual magic 2 months after a major surge were very low, 17 years was a joke. However this spoiled their plans for taking it easy at the same time, the overexcited duo (named Ameli and Kade) kept prodding Daichi to work faster whenever they thought that the investigation was going to slow.

Considering that after a week the investigation was still going nowhere, they were bothering Daichi almost all the time. Halfway through the second week Daichi had lost the resolve to keep them from doing whatever they wanted, and they were now running wide area searches with the ships sensors. This was, in Daichi's opinion, still useless as there should be nothing left to detect after 17 years. So he left them to their devises and continued with his own slower more low key investigation.

There was something that Daichi and Grib had left out of there reckoning however, the ship they were on was small and out of date but it was still a genuine TSAB science vessel and thus its sensors were still quite powerful. Thus it was that about two weeks after they had arrived chance against chance, the ship sensors piked up something.

Kade was in the bridge (or at least what passed for the bridge on the Lolarie) keeping track of the ships monitors and playing video games to pass the time. Although it had been his idea to use the ship to look for the remnants of the old power surge he did not enjoy being the one to have to watch the monitors. Naturally the ship had a program that was designed to tell the crewmen if it picked up anything in one of its sweeps but Kade, who had never been very good with computers or magic before was unable to figure out how to turn it on. He had asked the tech on board how to do it but the man had only given him a very strange look and then gone back to eating lunch, Kade had had much the same result with the janitor. And so he stayed on the bridge watching the monitors and playing 'Dimensional conquest 2' on his standard devise s built in projector.

While he played he would sometimes turn back to the monitor and fiddle around with the sensor array until he got bored with it again. As he checked the monitor for what seemed like the 50th time that day and what had to be the 100th time in these last 4 days. As he looked at the readings he realized just how much the sensors were picking up, he could see quite a bit of the planet just from the initial scans. This was nothing new to him, he had been staring at the monitor for 4 days now but it suddenly occurred to him that if the ship sensor was so strong then why shouldn't it be able to detect things off the planet as well? _What else could I pick up with this little baby? _he thought. Momentarily curious he started putting in different coordinates and seeing what came up. The sensors were not quite as impressive as he had hoped they would be at long range, he could get a fairly detailed layout of the red planet that was closest to that un-administered world but beyond that it was hazy and imprecise. After messing with it for a little more he went back to his video game.

About two hours later as he maneuvered his pieces across the 3D projection, Kade was jolted out of his stupor by what he recognized as the voice of the ships computer.

"Code 2 C, significant Magical energy detected at coordinates 3/11/4/78." a rather cool neutral sounding female voice from the computer said. "Awaiting new orders. Further more detailed scans recommended."

It registered dully with Kade that the program meant to auto inform the crew had been running the entire time making all the time he had spent at the monitor wasted.

"...Amli! Amli somethings happening! You better get down here fast!" Kade yelled over the ship intercom.

After about three minutes Amili came running into the room "Whats going on did you find something?"

"Ya! Check this out!" Kade leaned forward and typed 'show coordinates location' into the computer. The system immediately drew up a image of the large moon that orbited the planet called Earth.

"Its coming from their moon."

"...Get Daichi over here he'll want to see this"

Over the next few hours the pace of the Lolarie changed from snail paced monotony to a fury of movement. The moment Daichi had seen the reading they had called back everyone on the ground and gone to inspect the Magic signature. It was indeed coming from the moon though it was deep underground, a subtle but intense magical concentration welling up from beneath the surface. To say that Daichi and Grib were surprised would have been an understatement.

One week later they were back in Mid sharing their findings. Because there were no known Belkan ruins on non admin world #97 it was no challenge to get the green light to excavate. Two weeks later Daichi was heading back to the moon with a full professional archaeological teem and a small army of workers and digger bots. The workforce got down, set up a stable air pocket using barriers and then got to work, all in lightning speed. The dig had gone on for about two weeks, almost the entire operation was underground by the 5th day. As they went the Magic signature had gotten clearer and clearer, it showed up on the sensors with an almost frightening intensity, the nature of which baffled and intrigued many of the Mages working on analyzing the Magical signature. Besides its own peculiar magic the mysterious object was also radiating large amounts of a strange energy that was so far unidentified, needless to say the skilled archaeologists were going nuts over it, the project was receiving major attention before they even reached whatever was down there.

After two weeks of dinging however they reached an obstacle, two massive Double doors that were uncovered when a drill bot had run up against them. They were quickly unearthed and analyzed by a small horde of enthusiastic archaeologists and it was quickly agreed that the doors were probably not Belkan considering their design and the location.

The Doors were about 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide all together, from first glance they looked to be made from beaten bronze and marked with reliefs that resembled the roots of a tree branching out underground. It was quickly discovered, much to the teams frustration that they were impervious to both explosives and the strongest spells that they could muster. Attempts to dig around the doors (which were set in the rock) were met with failure as the surrounding stone seemed to suddenly become just as impenetrable past the point that the doors stood at. After failing to breach the doors with special anti bunker charges imported from Mid-Childa, Daichi decided to go for broke.

Contacting the heads of the Science department he petitioned for special equipment to breach the doors at all costs. Normally the amount of firepower he asked for would never have been granted in a million years however at that point the heads of the science department had been drooling over the project themselves and went to great lengths to get Daichies request approved. Finally in an order that had to come from the upper echelons of TSAB military command a Rank SS explosive Anti-Ship magical cartridge modified for controlled demolition was brought to the excavation sight. This brings us back to the present moment at the start of the chapter.

"All personnel retreat to designated safety areas. Demolition is underway all exposed personnel risk subjection to fatal explosive detonation. Repeat all personnel retreat to designated safety areas." Diachi watched as the few workers who remained in the works returned to the shielded areas."Sir we are all clear for demolition" a voice said through the communications network. " Very well begin the countdown" Daichi replied.

" 10...9...8...7...6...5" Daichi leaned forward towards the viewing screen, he rarely got worked up over things like this but one thing was for sure, this was going to be one huge explosion."4...3..2..1...0" the entire view screen lit up in an unbearably brilliant white flash followed by a BOOM! that he could hear through the demolition barrier. A split second later the view screen turned a deep crimson and the ground shook noticeably. "Damn! Ha ha..that was HUGE!" Yelled one of the staff. Daichi was forced to agree, besides just the reinforced safety barrier they were also a very long way away from the detonation sight, for the them to feel shaking at this range was surprising.

As the smoke on the screen cleared Daichi looked out across the excavation, the explosion had left an enormous crater. The doors lay in ruins leaving a gaping black hole in the rock face. Daichi grinned, they were through.

Contrary to first appearances the doors had not been destroyed by the blast but had been blown clean off their hinges, teams of Mages and worker bots levitated them out of the way and onto a lift. Considering how much they had taken before giving in, the doors probably qualified as minor Lost Logia themselves, and would probably become there own project when they got back home.

A probe bot was sent through the open space left by the doors to check for possible hostiles. When none were detected a team of combat ready Mages were sent through.

"Sir" came the team leader over the com "The area appears to be safe, but we definitely have something big down here." The mans voice sounded strained. "Can you get a visual?" said one of the archeologists. "Affirmative" the next moment the view screen changed to a feed from the team leaders device. In the center of a large dark room that looked to be made of stone, floated a red crystal about the size of a bathtub, the picture was checkered with flickering static and rather hard to make out. "What is that interference we are seeing?"

"This thing is putting off lots of weird readings, its probably causing whatever interference you are seeing. None of it seems to be dangerous however so you should be able to start working on it soon."

Confirming that there were no hidden death traps protecting the crystal took a few hours, after that the stone room was flooded with scientists and Mages cataloging the entire room and its contents meticulously. Despite its spaciousness the room was empty except for strange runes carved all over the floor and walls and for the crystal which floated a few feet above a small stone alter in the very center. The crystal itself was definitely quite a piece of work, it was taller than it was wide and was a deep clear unblemished red except for what seemed to be the core of the thing which occasionally seemed to let out glimmers of gold and other colors. It seemed to almost mesmerize people looking at it. As was TSAB archeological protocol (and protocol for basically every competent archaeological system ever) the relic was left undisturbed and studied only visually and with scans at first. It was 3 days later that, having seen no change or reaction to their presence they decided to remove it.

"Alright boys I will begin the sealing process" Said Mikari, an older Mage who was in charge of removal. Mikari walked up to the large crystal rather nonchalantly, he was a veteran of dealing with Lost Logia and had been with the TSAB Science Branch for nearly 30 years. He looked up at the crystal floating slightly above him and quietly gathered magical energy around it to seal it remotely. This proved harder than he expected, the Lost Logia was emitting its own strange magical energy with such intensity that it was repelling his. Mikari frowned slightly and then walked forward to touch it.

"Hey, ah, are you sure that's a good idea?" one of the junior archeologists called out from behind him.

"Ya, I'll be just fine. I've handled more than a few Lost Logia in my day son." Mikari replied cheerfully. He had worked with some plenty dangerous Lost Logia before and had never suffered ill effects from simply touching them, plus in cases like this sealing was much easier when you had some sort of bodily contact. Mikari stood right in front of it and leaned forward laying his hands on it.

The instant he touched it something in the deep recesses of his mind instinctively realized he should not have done so.

Searing red flames leapt out from the crystal a split second later and engulfed him completely. Mikari's eyes widened and he gasped in shock as he pulled away from the crystal covered in flame. The fire raged with unnatural intensity burning through his barrier jacket in seconds and filling the room with the hideous stench of seared flesh. He screamed only briefly as the fire immolated him where he stood.

In the space of about 3 seconds Mikari was reduced to a pile of smoking ashes.

The room was filed with shouts and gasps of horror from the various onlookers as Mikari died. Security teams broke out into action, some attempted to evacuate the other personnel and others trying to raise a barrier around the crystal. As the shocked scientists were quickly herded out one of the onlookers vomited.

Diachi was in shock, he had never seen anyone die before and it had happened so suddenly that he didn't realize what was happening until the man was ashes. As the offical leader of the expedition he had been taken out first and was now quietly sweating in the forward base command center consisting of some tables, chairs and a tent. As he sat there a screen opened up in front of him.

After the room was evacuated of Non-combat personnel things had calmed down inside the room, the Lost logia floating innocently in the same place it always had with the only evidence of the event being a small heap of ashes next to it and a pile of vomit on the floor near the exit. " Sir the Lost Logia has made no further aggressive moves and appears to have returned to its non-hostile state." Daichi thought for a moment the death of the man still fresh in his mind, if he proceeded immediately he might endanger other lives in the attempt. _NO _he thought, _this is my moment and I wont let a simple setback like this slow me down! _"Proceed with the extraction, seal the artifact as soon as possible but be cautious."

The security team leader on the other end blinked. _Be cautious, right like we wont be cautious after that. _"Okay men spread out and prepare to seal the Lost Logia from all angels at once. The mages fanned out around the room none to eager to get anywhere near the now ominous object at the center.

"Right on my mark everyone bind the Logia at once and keep your shields up! Ready... GO!"

Across the room the Mages all shouted BINDE! at once. Cords of energy wrapped out from all angels and wound themselves around the crystal. "We are good preparing to seal" the Team leader whose name was Genroy stepped forward, a drop of sweat rolled down his face. "SEAL!" he shouted and cast his spell. The crystal did not shrink like some Lost Logia did when sealed but it floated obediently off the pedestal still covered in glowing energy cords.

"I have it" he yelled. "Bring up the container!" a large cylindrical capsule a little bigger than the crystal was floated in by a pair of mages. They brought it up close to the crystal and the lid screwed of by itself. Genroy floated it in and the lid slid closed after it. It was finished. Breathing a sigh of relief Genroy sat down on the stone floor suddenly and put his head in his hands while the other men let out a cheer that sounded more like a cry of pain. As he looked over at the pile of ashes that had been Mikari it struck him how easily his death could have been avoided.

On the other end of the portable view screen Daichi to let out a cheer, this one fullhearted. They had it, his first archeological mission and he had retrieved a strange new Lost Logia for the TSAB. Not only had would his reputation be repaired but he would probably be rich to boot! "Ah" he said as he leaned back in his chair giggling "Everything is going my way."

.

200,000 miles away down on Earth something stirred, and in the bedroom of a large mansion a woman named Rin twitched in her sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2 response

Rin Tohsaka walked briskly towards the old church, although she appeared calm on the surface underneath she was on a knives edge of tension. The church loomed before her bringing bad memory's flooding back. It was the very same church from 17 years ago and seeing it gave her the chills, especially under the circumstances. As it was she hesitated briefly in front of the doors, hit by a strong sense of foreboding. _If I go in now there might be no turning back_, Rin thought. After barley a moment of deliberation she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

In 17 years the place had barely changed from the time Kirei Kotomine ran it. The church was lit only by a few small candles placed on the alter at the far end and by the moon light streaming through the stained glass window. Standing next to the alter were two people. One was a man dressed like a priest, he was of average height with short brown hair and and a rather hard looking face looking to be in his mid 40s. Next to him was a rather short blond haired woman dressed in casual clothes.

"Ah welcome Ms Rin, we are glad to see that you have come." Said the priest once Rin had closed the door.

After standing at the door for a moment and shaking off the chill that ran down her spine Rin walked forward towards the two. "Well I am not glad to be back here! You had better not be here to tell me what I think is happening is happening!" she barked out as she strode forward into the church. As she reached the alter she eyed the two suspiciously, they were almost certainly from the Mages Association but something about their air and the situation put her on edge. She had received rumor that something strange had happened in the London branch, something that involved the Grail, but it was very under wraps. Then she had been called out to the old church abruptly with only a 1 day notice, she was to come at night alone all with very little explanation. Needless to say she had come armed.

"You are correct." The woman said. "A situation involving the Grail has once again arisen before expected. And you have been selected to participate. However..."

_Not another Grail War!_ Rin thought, _we destroyed it. I know we did._

"That's impossible!" Rin shouted cutting the woman off. "The last war was only 17 years ago, the one before that was only 10 years prior! The next Grail War cannot be happening now!"

"I'm afraid that the situation is a bit more complicated than that." Said the priest.

"What are you saying complicated for? Is the next war on or is it not?"

The woman peeped up "Maybe you you would like to sit down Ms. Rin, this will take some explaining, but it is not quite what you think."

"I will stand thank you." Rin said curtly. "Now tell me exactly why you called me out to this wrenched little warehouse at this time of night."

"Very well." the Priest said, "In that case I will make introductions quick, I am Harry Fergon a representative of the Church and this is Samantha Green from the Mage's Association. Nine days ago in one of the Clock Tower facility's, an... oracle of sorts... informed the Association of a very disturbing development." He paused a moment before continuing. "It seems that the Holy Grail has been stolen."

Rins eyes, which had been narrow flew open in shock while one of her eyebrows shot up a full 2/3s inch on her brow. "Stolen. STOLEN." She repeated slowly as if trying the word for the first time. "This is the Holy Grail we are talking about right? How is that even possible? The thing isn't even corporeal!" She had started out talking but soon found herself nearly shouting at the two. For 17 years she had thought that it was destroyed and now it was somehow stolen. That didn't even make sense.

"It is true I am afraid." said Harry "Miss, have you ever heard of the TSAB?"

"The TSAB?" Rin had heard of them of course, being a 3rd rank Magus in the Association and an honored researcher in the department of Mineralogy made her privy to several things that most Magus were uninformed of. Such as the existence of the TSAB. When the Association had learned of the organization around 23 years ago they had found themselves looking at a organization much larger than themselves that used a completely foreign system of Magecraft and was armed with spaceships and robots, something of a minor panic had ensued among the ruling Lords. In their typical paranoid fashion the Association had deemed it prudent to remain hidden, since then they had monitored Magecraft on earth even closer to avoid detection. Their efforts had paid off, as far as the TSAB knew Earth was a completely non-magical chunk of rock.

"Yes I know of them. Have we been discovered?"

"No but that may change soon. As you know, during the last War the Grail was destroyed or damaged severely, it seems that in order to rebuild or repair itself the Grail assumed physical form in a safe place and has been reforming itself these last 17 years."

Rin felt a blank coldness descending on her as the man spoke, so it was true, the Grail was back. For 17 years she had slept content with the knowledge that the Grail was gone. Only in the last few weeks had her assurance ever really faltered and hearing it now was like an old nightmare suddenly coming back to life.

Harry continued unaware of Rin's face going rather pale. "Three weeks ago a TSAB ship came and began an unknown operation, we believe that they landed on our moon. Then one week ago an ancient farseeing stone artifact kept at the London institute received a message. The message was in the universal language and came from someone of something calling itself the 'Watcher of the Grail' it claimed that the grail had been taken by strange Magi and in order to maintain the sanctity of the Grail it must be recovered and returned to its resting place."

"So the TSAB took the Grail and now the Grail wants the Mage association to take it back?"

"Yes."

"So what are we suppose to do?" Rin intoned. "Attack the TSAB? We hardly know anything about them and we still know that they are at least five times our match. Why even go after the Grail, let those space aliens choke on it!"

"You are completely right, the Association will not be reclaiming the Grail." Harry Said.

"Then what...?"

"According to the 'Watcher of the Grail' the Grail was made with a defense system of sorts that would activate in the case that something like this ever happened. And that is where you come in. When the system went into effect we believe that it taped into a massive reserve of Prana usually dormant and began an event that the 'Watcher' called a "Holy Grail Crusade". Like the war, Masters will attempt to summon a Servant and will be chosen by the Grail, however instead of fighting each other right away you will first seek out the Grail and attempt to return it to its resting place. As a former Master, a member of one of the founding families and a brilliant Magus with high favor in the Association we want you to join this Holy Grail Crusade as the Master who will represent the Association." Harry said looking at Rin pointedly.

Rin absorbed all this with an expression that was somehow half angry, half confused and half shocked all at the same time. Inside she thought that she was taking it rather well.

_This is nuts_ she thought, _if I went I would be protecting the Grail, something that should probably be destroyed. _

But even though she was now 34 some part of Rin was still the girl who entered the Grail for no other reason than the glory.

"And the winner?"

"The victorious Master and Servant will each receive a minor wish created from whatever remains of the Prana reserves used to fuel the crusade as well as a guarantied position in the next Grail War if you so choose."

Rin clenched her fists at her sides. "I will... consider this." She said and turned to go.

"Before you leave you should know this, although it is similar this is not a Grail War the Grail will summon only those spirits who it remembers, because of this the only Servants who can be summoned are those who have previously participated in one of the Grail Wars, we believe that those who died latest have the best probability of being re summoned, it is highly likely that all the participants of the last war will be recalled."

Rin stopped mid step, _Archer! And Saber! _She felt a flash of joy mixed with surprise, then she grimaced

_Caster. And Berserker._

"Also because this is not a true Grail War there is no limit to how many Masters can be chosen."

"WHAT!" Rin screeched, wheeling around on one foot to turn and face him nearly choking on her own spit, "Are you telling me that there could be WHO KNOWS HOW MANY Masters jumping in and calling out WHO KNOWS HOW MANY Servants to go and run amok with?"

"No, the Grail still chooses the Masters, it just isn't limited to Seven in this event."

"Unbelievable, this is going to be a nightmare! More than Seven Masters and Servants all running head first into unknown territory to fight an unknown enemy for the Grail. Whoever the TSAB really is I almost feel sorry for them."

"Yes I think it will be quite bad for whoever gets in their way. That's why we want you to participate, you are one of the last surviving people who has been a Master before, and we trust that you will keep the Associations interests at heart and find out as much as possible about this TSAB" Samantha said giving her a meaningful look.

"I see, and how will we get to wherever it is that the TSAB took the Grail?"

"We will tell you if you decide to participate."

"Hmph" Rin snorted, "Anything else important?"

"Not really, only a few minor things, if you do summon a Servant it will be a little different from a Grail War summoning, because the Grail is relying on its emergency reserve of Prana to bring up the servants, the summonings will not be quite as refined as usual, the servants may have a few odd quirks."

"Quirks?"

"In the past when a Servant was summoned, it had information on language, some culture and even a little history implanted directly into its head. This was so that they could adapt to modern society quickly and smoothly so as not to hinder their capacity as Servants when they first arrived."

"Yes" said Rin, "I remember that all the servants knew Japanese as soon as they were summoned. Are you saying that they might be unable to now?" Rin found the idea of having to teach a Servant Japanese from scratch very unappealing.

"I think that they will probably know our language but they may have some habits that hold out from their era."

Rin felt skeptical "The Grail gave that much detail as to what is likely to happen?"

Harry smiled "well not exactly but as I said it was apparently speaking in universal language and that language has a tendency to communicate a lot more than is simply said."

"I see. I will... think about it." she said as turned to go for the second time.

"Very good Mis Rin if you accept then return here in five days."

Rin walked out into the night thinking like she hadn't thought in years. If she did it she would have to face Servants that she never ever wanted to see again, but if she did it she had a chance for Glory! She could fulfill the lost ambition she had 17 years ago and prove herself as the one worthy of the Grail! Shirou was gone, disappeared in South America six years ago, aside from Waver Velvet and Bazett, who it turned out by some bizarre stroke of fortune had survived the war, she was the only former Master still in a position to compete and could thus use her superior experience to dominate the battle. It could work out... It could be foolishness.

Rin did not sleep at all that night, only stirring from her internal debate when the sun began to rise.

*Scene*

Far away on the massive space station that was the TSAB Headquarters Yuuno Scrya floated among the shelves of the Infinity Library dipping in and out of the veritable maze of shelves that he knew so well. Occasionally he would stop, open book and peer through it before putting it down or adding it to the small fleet of books that were now orbiting him. Despite his usual enthusiasm for his work Yuuno's patience was running thin at the moment, never before had the Infinite Library failed him, navigating it was a job that required skill and patience no doubt but it was rare to ever find absolutely nothing after a prolonged search. Especially for someone who was as good at his job as he was. He looked back at the swarm of books that were floating behind him and sighed, it would take a while to search through these even with magic. In a flash of light he disappeared along with the books, reappearing in his work station. Siting down he began to scroll through the books en mass, pages flipping away and text running down the insides of his glasses at speeds usually reserved for computers.

He had been at this for four days now, searching up and down the halls for any information regarding the lost Logia that had been recently found near Non-administrated world #97. Considering how little he was given to go by it was easy to tell that the team of scientists and Mages who were studying the mysterious artifact were not getting much out of it. So far all he had been given was that it was very powerful, was found on Non admin world #97s Moon, gave off a unique magical signature that did not conform to any known magic system so far and didn't like to be touched. Reportedly a Mage who was working with the excavators had put his hand on it while attempting to seal it, this was generally considered bad form by most archeologists as violate or actively hostile Lost Logia were not unheard of. In this case the unfortunate man had payed the highest price for his small slip of protocol, as soon as his hand touched it he was engulfed in flames and completely incinerated, the medical team had been unable to even find his teeth.

As fascinating and mysterious as all that was it did not give Yuuno a lot to work with and he had so far found nothing that matched. At the moment he was looking through some truly ancient records of Belkan conquest from the Warring Ages. Among other things the ancient Belkans had meticulously documented the technology and magic systems of the worlds that they conquered. Yuuno was looking through them for anything that reassembled the magic readings that were put of by lost Logia # 9461 Aka The Red Moon Gem as it had been named ( while Lost Logia were assigned a number they were also usually given a name by rule of thumb. The honor of naming was usually given to the discoverer but could also be given to influential scientists or people who otherwise had a great hand in there discovery. Important or powerful ones also tended to accrue nicknames, and #9461 was already being called "The Touchy Red Toaster" by some with bad taste.) So far he had had found nothing that even remotely resembled it.

Two hours later Yuuno sat up and stretched, the books had been fascinating in there own right but had brought him no closer two his goal. The clock on the wall read 4:15, he had been working since 8:00 and it was definitely time to stop before he went nuts. He left his office and walked into the library, unlike the further reassess of the library the front of the Infinity Library was alive with the hustle and bustle of busy people. As the largest source of information in the universe (and possibly all universes as Yuuno liked to think) the Infinity Library drew people from all over the multiverse to its doors. Researchers, historians, scientists, doctors, Mages, politicians and even simple tourists, anyone who could secure a trip to the TSAB interdimensonal space station. Despite the number of people the Library was still somehow never crowded or noisy, the first was simply due to its enormous size (it was named the Infinity Library for a reason after all). The second was due to a combination of respect for the library rules and Karl a rather moody security guard and B rank Mage who enforced the library rules with an iron fist. As Yuuno surveyed the crowd he felt himself unwinding, just being in this section felt good after the long hours of solitude spent in the virtually abandoned tunnel like areas of the library and in his office reading. As he moved through the crowd he noticed the familiar face of Heather Quake heading towards him.

"Ah! Professor! There you are I have been looking for you" Heather said breathlessly.

Heather Quake age 21, was a novice archivist and secretary who had just transferred to the Infinity Library last year. Quickly gaining a reputation as something of an incompetent she was relegated to helping newcomers find things, running odd jobs for the more senior members and sorting out messes that no one else had the time for. At 5 foot 2 with long brown hair and large glasses she had the air of being constantly caught of guard. Although she bore some passing physical resemblance to Fates aid Shario Fineeno that was where similarity's stopped, Heather was in general constantly nervous and usually unaware of what was going on around her. As one of the few people who could stand her presence for more than 30 minutes Heather had taken to helping/bothering Yuuno more than the other librarians.

"Oh hello Heather." said Yuuno smiling pleasantly. Despite her capacity for irritating people Yuuno was actually rather happy to see her at the moment as it meant a definite end to the rather oppressive silence.

"Professor. I saw it! Its really real! At first I thought that it was just a joke that the night janitor was trying to scare me with but its really real I actually saw it with my own eyes it was right there and then it ran away before I could do anything it climbed right up the shelf and out of sight before I could call the security guards I cant believe it I mean I thought that it was just a joke but I actually saw it!"

"I'm sorry but what are you talking about?"

"The escaped orangutan. I saw it yesterday but no one believes me!"

"Ah yes... the phantom orangutan of section 34, so you saw it?" Yuuno was quite familiar with the story of the orangutan. Story's about a large orange monkey that appeared in the library were quit old, and had been circulating since long before Yuuno had arrived. Supposedly the library was frequented by an Orangutan that popped up seemingly at random and took books off the shelves only to return them to there exact proper place always before there due dates expired. There were various theory's as to what it was ranging from a simple story to a complex hoax to an orangutan familiar that had somehow lost its master. Yuuno tended to maintain the hoax theory.

"yes, I was walking along trying to find the exit in section 8 when I saw it"

"You got lost in section 8 ?" Yuuno raised an eyebrow, the infinity library was huge and there were definitely places where you could get lost but section 8 was not one of them.

"Oh well I was looking for some documents for Mr. Reddy and I must have gotten turned around."

Yuuno sighed in exasperation "Heather you have been working with us for almost a year, shouldn't you be familiar section 8 by now? And maybe you should spend less time with that security guard Karl, the orangutan was probably just a little joke of his at your expense."

"Bu but it wasn't an illusion! It was putting a book on the shelf when I saw it." Heather stuttered.

"It was probably someone who was skilled at shape changing and was doing it to have a laugh and keep the legend going that all."

"Mmmm... yes sir" Heather said looking doubtful.

"Now don't you have finish getting that document to Mr Reddy?"

"Oh y-yes! Well goodbye Mr Scrya." Heather turned and walked off as quickly as she came in the direction of section 14, Yuuno almost called out to correct her but she already gone. Yuuno suddenly wondered how Heather kept from getting fired, as the chief librarian he could chose who stayed or went but it was usually a job relegated to others with Yuuno only stepping in if someone really messed up. Despite her general incompetence Heather sometimes seemed to be able to be everywhere at once and had a knack for being in the right place at the right time even if it probably wasn't intentional.

Yuuno walked through the library towards the exit, and then stopped, the security guard office was just around the corner so he decided to drop in to see about the orangutan business. Besides it was always good to talk with your employees once in a while.

Karl Milton looked up as Yuuno walked in, and looked a little surprised to see him. "Oh el'o Boss" he said quickly taking his feet of the table and siting up in his chair.

"Hello Karl just dropping in" Yuuno said. Karl relaxed a little at this and slouched in his chair again (though his feet stayed off the table)

Karl Milton was a security guard who was quite well know at the library. Although only a little taller than average he was very burly and made for a rather imposing figure, this plus the shock stick/standard device that he carried with him wherever he went quickly put an end to whatever trouble was going on. Although the Infinity library might not seem like a place for trouble, theft and break in was not unheard of with the library. People seeking weapon plans and old forbidden spells could find them in the library if they could gain accesses to certain sections so on occasion the library was penetrated by thieves. While not the head of security, Karl had cemented his position as the "Brute Squad" of the library when he beat 3 armed terrorists unconscious with his devise when he found them sneaking around the library late one night. In the two years sense he had proven himself to be a very capable watchmen and a bit of a sadist as well when using his shock stick.

"Right boss, there a problem your having with somebody?" He said tossing his devise up in the air and caching it again.

"To tell you the truth the monkey has been seen again." Yuuno said. Karl was a big believer in the legend and often stated that he planed on caching the animal.

"Oh really? Where?" Karl said suddenly looking more interested. "Wait a minuet I thought you didn't believe in the thing, why are you down here telling me?"

"I want to make sure that it isn't you playing jokes on Heather. Is it?"

"O come on! Just because I like to spook her out a little from time to time doesn't mean that the monkey is me."

"Okay okay... just keep an eye out for weirdos and if you find out who it is tell me. I would like to put an end to this its been going on for yeas now and I am starting to get tired of it." Yuuno said. He really was tired of it in a way, even if it did give him something to think about when he was bored. Karl cracked a grin. "Gocha boss, I'll find it and bring it to you personally tied up and gagged on your desk, then we could hang it from the ceiling! Ha ha ha!" He laughed a big deep throaty laugh with his head thrown back. It made Yuuno smile, he hadn't heard anyone laugh for days come to think of it.

"If it turn out to be a real monkey I just might do that" Yuuno said as he walked out smiling.

*Scene *

Yuuno was in his office the next day reading. Again. The book pile was bigger than ever, he had been reading all day and hadn't found a thing on what he was looking for. The idea that the library had nothing on Lost Logia #9461 was looking more and more possible. It was an idea that intimidated him a little. If it was true then whatever they were dealing with was either very VERY old or from an extremity far removed dimension. It also angered him a little, discounting his current frustration this was the first time that he had ever really faced the possibility that something was not in the Infinity Library's archives.

Groaning a little as he put down the book he checked the time, it was 2 o'clock and there were still 50 some books to go through, even with his magical speed reading that would take hours. It looked like another long haul till about 6:00 would have been his fate when suddenly there was a knock on his office door. "Come in" Yuuno said. The door opened and Heather peaked in looking even more agitated than usual like there was something nasty that she had to pass on. "U-um...there's someone here to see you Sir" she said almost cringing as she spoke. "He calls himself Dr Corellis"

Yuunos eyebrow's shot up and he let out a "Oh!" of pleasant surprise. Smiling he stoop up and walked quickly over to the door. "Yes show him in!" Yuuno said in a very cheery voice. Heather looked shocked at this and then quickly breathed a hasty "Um o-okay" and turned around. "You can go in D-Dr."she said and then walked off rather quickly.

Talen Corellis walked into Yuunos office smiling faintly. As soon as Yuuno saw him he was forced to remember why it was that Heater had been so unsettled when showing him in, even after knowing him for almost Four years Talen's appearance still gave Yuuno a small shock from time to time.

"Professor Corellis! Its so good to see you again!" he said striding over and taking Talens hand in a handshake. The hand that returned the shake was bony and cold but strong just like Yuuno remembered.

"It is good to see you again to Dr. Scrya" Talen said with just a hint of sarcasm at the Dr part. "Eh sorry Talen guess I am a bit stiff today." Replied Yuuno (they had stopped referring to each other by last name a long time ago). "Please, come in and sit down I haven't seen you for ages."

Talen was a historian who had become acquainted with Yuuno about a year before the Scaglietti incident, after working together on a project they had become acquaintances and later friends of sorts. Although he was a historian Talen was intensely interested in almost every academic subject that existed, it was his extremely well rounded knowledge that had helped Yuuno out in several very tricky cases and had introduced the two in the first place. So far as Yuuno knew Talen Corellis was a Historian (his official qualification and area of expertise), a Physicist (also officially qualified), a amateur Chemist (he claimed to have dabbled in it), a Mineralogist (amateur), a Botanist (he could name more plants than most people knew existed) and a Linguist ( amateur but he probably knew more that many professionals). In addition to this Talen was a very friendly and reasonable man, he seemed to radiate logic and levelheadedness wherever he went and was quite easy to get along with. It was these traits that made him welcome company wherever he went. Most of the time. Some of the time. Very rarely.

Unfortunately many people did not always appreciate his vast scientific knowledge or his natural affability. Inevitably the first thing people saw was that Talen Corellis looked like someone had stuck a scare crow in a set of clothes and then animated it. He stood about average height but was so thin that he looked like you could snap him in half over your knee. His arms were like sticks that ended in thin hands and almost skeletal fingers, his pale almost gray skin was pulled tight over his emaciated frame. His face was unbelievably gaunt with hollow cheeks and eyes that seemed to look through things rather than at them. His hair was short and colored a light brown that somehow did not seem healthy. His voice was dry and as hollow as his cheeks and sometimes made peoples hair stand on end. When he laughed it sounded more like a crow than a person. None of this was helped any by his clothes which consisted of a brown wetherbeaten longcoat, simple pants and similarly wetherbeaten hiking boots. He looked almost like an old man rather than his actual age of 32.

To put it simply most people were severely creeped out by him. Even Yuuno who was not one to judge people by appearance (after all some of his friends had wolf ears and some were less than a foot tall) had taken a while to warm up to the point of not being constantly put off by his glaring appearance. When he did however he realized that Talen was the sort of person that was both fascinating to talk to and genuinely curious about Yuunos own work.

Talen walked over to Yuunos desk and pulled up a chair as Yuuno sat back down in his taking off his longcoat and draping the rather dirty thing over the back of the chair he sat down.

"So Talen I haven't seen you in almost a year, where have you been off to?

"I have been traveling as always, I just got back from Namune a word near Alzas, they are administrated but not part of the TSAB. Its fascinating they built their entire culture around magic with almost no scientific advancement at all. Primitive but with very good Mages, they actually taught me some while I was there, I am a D rank Mage now."

"Really? That's great! Its good to hear you are coming forward in that department." Yuuno said, for all his skill in other areas Talen was no good as a Mage and probably never would be.

"Yes though I don't think I will ever make it to B much less where you are in that regard. Anyhow they were a bit like the Ruwellians actually with... I'm sorry there I go again talking about culture. How have you been? Still the chief librarian I take it? "

"Yes I am still the chief librarian though that might change soon the way things are going." Yuuno said rather gruffly

"Ah... has something happened?"

"Well no I'm not really in danger of loosing the spot but I have hit something of a snag."

"How do you mean?"

"I take it that since you have been away you aren't up to date on scientific events. There has been something of a breakthrough."

"Yes actually I did hear about that. To tell you the truth its why I'm back, I always keep tabs on current events and when I heard about this, new strange Lost Logia I cut my trip short and headed back here to get in on it."

Yuuno grinned inside, that was Talen alright, always keeping up with the Scientific community even when off on one of his exploration trips._ Actually _he thought_ I should probably have seen this coming._

"Ha! Well you are certainty welcome back. You see I have been assigned to find any book the library has that mentions anything like it."

"So what have you found?"

"Oh... well there is the snag you see I haven't found a single book that mentions anything remotely like it."

Talen raised an eyebrow "So it really is unique then... if the great speed reader Yuuno cant find a book on it then that really puts things in perspective. How long?"

"I have been looking for five days now"

"Oh well that's not to much, this is the Infinite Library after all."

"The problem is that Logia # 9461 puts off magical elements that are completely incompatible with anything that human linker cores are capable of producing."

Talen froze at that. "Your certain?"

"Yes we know it does. Because the only a few civilizations ever delved into non linker core related magic it narrows down the numbers of books that could have anything on it by quite a bit and I have been through nearly all the ones I can find!"

"Well then... it looks like this is going to be interesting."

"Phf yah. Re looking through all those books to make sure I didn't miss anything is going to be really exciting."

Talen looked at Yuuno for a moment in silence and then said in a quieter tone "So how goes the wooing of a certain young woman?"

Yuuno gave a small jolt and went slightly red. "wh-wh-what?"

"Nanoha, Yuuno. You haven't given up on her yet I hope?"

Yuuno frowned and looked off to the side "No, no I haven't for your information. Where did that come from?"

"I see." Talen said ignoring his inquiry and suddenly looking around Yuunos office intently. "So when did you last see her?"

Yuuno suddenly became painfully aware that his office was stacked from floor to ceiling in some places with books and was none to clean.

"Is that alcohol?"

Yuuno jumped up and ran to the corner Talen was looking at and grabbed the now dusty bottles that had collected there. "Its just beer!" He said quickly scooping them up and moving them behind the book pile where Talen couldn't see.

"Drinking on the job. What happened?"

Yuuno finished shoving the last of the bottles out of view. He was no longer quite so happy about Talen being back, from the moment he had learned of Yuunos feelings towards Nanoha he had tried to act as something of a Marriage counselor / Dating adviser to him. As far as he knew Talen had never been married. It ticked Yuuno off sometimes.

" I invited her to go to northern Mid with me"

"Camping hmm. How did it go?"

"She had work that week so I offered to go the next."

"And?"

"And then this STUPID project came in and I had to call it off so I could spend five days looking through about 1000 books for mention of something that MIGHT have relevance to some new ROCK they dug up!"

"...I see"

"You see." Yuuno said shortly, his breathing a bit above normal.

"Why couldn't you call it off?"

Yuuno grimaced, this was where he felt guilty. "The Directory board of Lost Logia management and research, requested my assistance by name. I thought that I could find whatever it was that they wanted me to find in a day, I usually can." He stopped talking but then blurted: "I don't even think she realized I was asking her out."

Talen looked at him."Well I guess you messed up pretty bad. But it doesn't really change anything, not in the long run at least. But it was rather stupid of you and now you have to pay the consequences of your stupidity " he said simply.

"What do you mean by that last part?"

Talen smiled and said "Well, now you are stuck here and have to finish your project with me."

Yuuno smiled back sullenly "At least that's better than what I was doing before you came."

*scene *

Rin stood in the basement of her house over an intricate circle drawn out in red over the floor. In one hand she held a book, her other was outstretched to her left weaving patterns in the air as she chanted. As the incantation went on pressure inside the room seemed to increase, her hair began to move and then writhe backwards oh her head as if blown by a wind. After a short time things began to speed up, a actual wind began to blow through the room rapidly turning the pages of the other books in the room and causing a chalkboard full of archaic symbols to fall over in the corner. Through all of this her chanting stayed steady, unwavering as everything else sped up. _D'eja' vu _she thought for a split second before she finished the final words of the summoning. This time there was no explosion, instead the wind in the room all seemed to suddenly rush inwards towards the center of the circle. There was a bright flash and the room was bathed in red light.

When the light cleared a tall and familiar figure stood in the center of the room. It stood perfectly still for a second before looking around and murmuring "Well I must say this is unexpected."

Rin allowed herself the briefest of smiles before putting on her best scowl "Archer!" she waited for him to turn around and see her before continuing "We have work to do."

Archer looked at her in evenly before recognition suddenly flashed across his face "Rin?"

*scene *

Will Galvin was standing over his own simple circle. Drawn in white house paint on the boards of an old tool shed it was a far cry from the intricate circles usually used for spells. It was all he had though and it would have to do.

Will Galvin was the Magus equivalent of a vagabond, 24 years old and from America ( a country with almost no notable magus families or traditions) and with little money to his name he went wherever he pleased and wherever he could get by and learn his art at, at the same time.

He was slightly taller than most with blond hair, hazel eyes and a rather plain looking face. He was born and had grown up in rural South Dakota where he lived with his parents until the age of 13. His father was a police officer up to that point he had planned on becoming one as well. All that had changed one day when, like in so many fairy tails, he had encountered a Maugs. He had found the man out by pure accident when he became certain that the man was a crook for unrelated reasons. Being 13 and adventurous he had decided to break into the mans house to find evidence of the strangers evil deeds. What he found when he descended into the mans basement was a whole nother world. Thrilled out of his 13 year old brain that magic really existed he had stolen the mans Magical equipment and regents and held them ransom for the price of an apprenticeship. After a very rocky start and narrowly avoiding being killed several times over by an enraged Magus he had got the man to teach him the basics of magic. After his first successful spell all ambitions of becoming a police officer had evaporated just like the neighbors cat (cut him some slack he was 13 and besides that cat always was mean). After his apprenticeship he had ran away from home in pursuit of magic and adventure. Over the years he had found both and become a fully fledged, if not quite exceptional, Magus.

Although he had grown much wiser since he was 13 he had never lost his sense of adventure and when he received word of the Grail Crusade he had taken out a loan, stowed away on a ship bound for Japan (a task made much easier with the help of magic) and then taken the first train to Fuyuki city. Seeing no reason to waist money he had simply commandeered an abandoned shed and set up base there.

_Well _he thought _here I am._ _Time to see where this will go._ It was his motto for life.

He opened his spiral notebook that he kept his written requirements for magic on and flipped through his many bookmarks till he found the one he was looking for. He had payed quite a bit and more than just money to find what was copied in his notebook, a summoning incantation like the ones used in the grail wars was written in pencil right next to his rough drawing of the summoning circle that was now painted on the floor. Now for the catalyst. He put the notebook down on the floor in open position and dug around in his backpack for a little before puling out a hardcover of Le Morte d'Arthur and laying it down in the middle of the circle open halfway. Before coming to Japan he had given some thought to who he wanted to summon, he decided that he didn't really care as long as they were powerful. After fishing around a little he had thought to himself Y_ou know actually I would really like a knight. Knights are cool. Yeah ...I think I'll go for that._ After a little more deliberation he had settled on King Arthur, after all he was the big cheese as far as Knights went wasn't he? So why not go for him? If you aimed high then even falling short was bound to bring someone strong.

"Well here goes" he said aloud. Standing up with the spiral notebook in hand he began the incantation. Unlike with Rin's Summoning there was no intense wind or buildup of invisible pressure. Rather as the incantation went on there was a soft breeze that began to blow, it was cool and smelled of the sea even though it was blowing from the wrong way to carry such a smell. When he reached the halfway point in the spell he noticed that his circle was changing. It had been painted rather simply in white house paint, now it was blue a deep royal blue and was shifting ad curling subtly to become more exquisite. As he read on the breeze became ever so slightly stronger and began to carry different smells, the smell of oiled steel and wet grass became dominate. The previously plain circle was now a beautiful design on the floor that began to glow blue and give off a presence. Will was struck with the impression that something very majestic and... well... **Royal **was coming. As the last words tumbled out of his lips there was a swell of bright blue and gold light that nearly blinded him and caused him to shield his eyes and look away, dropping the note book.

Before he could look up again he felt that there was someone standing in front of him.

"I ask of you, are you my Master?" spoke a firm but feminine voice. Will Galvin looked up and beheld a short figure decked out in blue armor standing in front of him. The figures clothing were breathtaking, a skirt of deep blue like the color that the circle had become set over with a silverwhite breastplate, its hands and lower arms were covered in large gauntlets. When his eyes strayed to its face however Will was jerked out of his trance, the face was just a little to... he suddenly realized the figure was definitely a girl. "Aw man." he said out loud his shoulders slumping. "I was hoping for King Arthur."


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3: Fight, Flight and Eyebite

The armored girl's stern expression flickered for a split second at his comment before reverting itself.

"I am your Servant, Saber. I have come in response to your summons. I ask of you are you my Master?"

Will drew himself up doing his best to gaze down on the shorter Servant sternly. "Yes I am your Master, Servant. You will know this to be true by the seals on my hand." He said holding the back of his hand up for her to see. The three marks that had appeared on it were wave like in shape reminding one of a gust of wind and colored a pale green that stood out against the flesh. " As you know I have summoned you to aid me in the Grail Crusade, you will be my weapon and my shield against any who would stand between us and the Grail, if you disobey my orders you will find that I can force you to comply with these seals." Will finished talking, it was a speech that he had planned and rehearsed for a long time. From his experience (and he did have a little) any contract with a magical being was best put explicitly and with no sign of weakness from the Master, especially when the summoned being could kill you in a second if it chose to. Which if what he had heard was true, was not uncommon when it came to Servants.

Saber watched him make his little speech without comment. Inside she was rather reassured with his introduction, although the comment about King Arthur had thrown her for a little it appeared that this man knew what he was doing even if his introduction was a bit arrogant. "Very well" she replied once he had finished. "I will obey, defend and fight for you so long as you stay true to the quest." Although her new Master kept a reasonably straight face she could tell that he was relieved by her response.

"Excellent. You said that you were a Saber Servant?"

"Yes, that is my class." Saber said simply.

_Wow I guess I really got lucky._ He thought happily, he had heard that Sabers were the best of the Servants so even though this didn't appear to be any legendary figure he recognized she was hopefully still strong enough to get him through the crusade in one piece.

"I take it that you know why you have been summoned?"

"The Grail informs all Servants as to the details of the event when we are summoned."

"Good then we can start right away. In two days we will be heading down to an old church to report our participation in the crusade and then leave for wherever it is they want us to go. During those two days we will gather supplies and try to keep tabs on the other Masters. Since this isn't a Grail war, threat of attack should be fairly low but we will stay alert just in case.

Saber nodded her head in approval "Very good Master." this man seemed to have his head on his shoulders at least as far as basic strategy went which was an encouraging sign.

Saber looked around the shack they were standing in, it was small, with the circle taking up about half the available floor space. The walls were quite dusty and the floor looked like it had been to until very recently. _He probably swept it out quickly so the dust would not interfere with the circle when he made it_ Saber thought. Hear and there rusted gardening tools lined the walls or lay abandoned on the floor. She could tell it was night by the lack of light coming in through several gaps in the walls.

"Okay then" Will said loosing his formal tone "I guess this is it, my name is Will Galven by the way, you can just call me Will." At first Will had planned on having his Servant call him Master unless they were in public but with her standing in front of him it suddenly struck him as awkward even though he sensed that she would probably have addressed him as such without him asking her to."What shall I call you?"

"You may call me Saber, Master."

"Right, Saber, for now that will do. I need to get to sleep, but my wards around this place are not strong enough to fully conceal us, you should astralize and keep watch outside for tonight." Will said yawning halfway through. It was odd he thought, only a minute ago he was summoning a legendary being from another dimension and now... there was nothing more to do. It was 12:40, he had spent the entire night making sure that the circle was perfect and now was quite tired but still... summoning a legend and then basically going "Okay hello, goodnight" put a very mundane finish to one of the most epic things he had ever seen.

"I am afraid that I am incapable of astralizing Master." Saber said cutting through his thoughts.

Will was leaning over his backpack pulling out a sleeping pad when he heard her. He turned around with a surprised look. "Wait what? You cant astralize?"

"I am afraid not Master, it may be that I was summoned improperly and that has impaired some of my ability's." Saber hated lying especially to her Master but telling the truth would lead to questions that could reveal her true identity and she did not know this Master nearly well enough to trust him with it.

"Damn... this is going to make it hard to move around with you." Will said still looking surprised and now rather worried.

"Fear not Master, I will still stand guard outside your house, if any Servant attempts to enter they will meet their end at my sword. Now let us go."

"Go?" said Will with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes, to the place that you stay, you said you needed to sleep did you not?"

Will looked at her confused for a moment and then suddenly understood. "Um Saber, this is where I stay, I'm afraid I don't have much when it comes to a base of operations." he said rather awkwardly.

Saber looked around quickly taking in the room again "This is all you have?" she said looking doubtful.

"well... yes I didn't get her till just a little while ago and I didn't really want to spend money on a hotel."

"Very well it maters not, I will protect you no mater where you lay your head, of this you have my word."

"Thanks"

"Now one thing before you retire Master, may I inquire as to the date?"

"The Date? It is April 12 2021."

"...I see, thank you."

Saber turned around and walked out of the shack shutting the door behind her. Normally she would never have left her Masters side while guarding him but the shack was so small that the advantage of being able to see outside was well worth it, and besides with only a thin wood door separating them she was practically right next to him anyway.

When Saber turned around she found herself standing in a quiet, spacious semicircle of bushes forming a small enclosure that the shack stood in. It was a peaceful spring night with only a hint of chill in the air left over from winter, the smell of flowers was present. _It is strange_ Saber thought _all the Grail wars have taken place in winter,_ _I haven't seen a spring since I was laid to rest in Avalon. _Saber took in the smells of spring with a sniff of enjoyment, experiencing them completely for the first time in a thousand and a half years. Because she was still alive, her body resting in Avalon she sometimes still received physical sensations from it while inside the Throne of Heroes, smells, or sounds occasionally reaching her conscious mind, however they were always faded and indistinct as if coming from a great distance. Now her senses were as sharp as when she was alive.

After surveying the landscape for a little she turned her thoughts to the Date._Year 2021 it has only been 17 years since when I last walked. Shirou could very well still be alive _the thought warmed her and she smiled. Whatever this war brought she would be content in the knowledge that Shirou was still out there. _It is even quite possible that he may be in this war _at this thought she frowned, if it came down to fighting Shirou or betraying her current Master she knew what she would do in a heartbeat, the problem was that Shirou being a participant seemed more and more likely the more she thought about it. As the victor of the last war the Grail would probably select him by default if he came within 50 miles of Fuyuki city, as one of the few people who knew what corruption the Grail was capable of he would almost definitely try to participate in the Crusade to prevent others from being hurt by it. _No, if Shirou was participating he would have summoned me. If he is participating... it looks like I will only be in this crusade so long as my Master doesn't fight him. _With that conviction made Saber then began to analyze her own situation.

As always she had saved up a large stockpile of Mana while inside the Throne of Heroes, unlike last time however it would not be necessary to rely on that. Far from being summoned improperly as she had told Will, her summoning had been quite smooth and she could feel the steady supply of Prana coming from her master. She had to admit that even though she had hoped she would be fighting by Shirou's side it was definitely welcome to have a normal source of Prana to maintain her. Whoever her Master was he quite skilled at Magecraft, if she estimated correctly from the amount of Prana he was giving her, she should be nearly at her full combat potential. Saber then reached out with her mind and felt for her Noble Phantasms, Excalibur and Invisible Air were immediately apparent and ready to be called out at a seconds notice. Her scabbard Avalon was also there having been returned to her by Shirou at the end of the last war. Although she must have had it since then, its return had only vaguely registered to her inside the Throne of Heroes as a familiar shape on the edge of her mind. Now she realized for the first time how much she had missed it. Sabers face broke into one of her rare full smiles. Unable to resist she quietly materialized it. It came easily into her hands in a soft glow of golden light, its body overlaid with fine gold and blue vitreous enamel to form a geometric pattern of blue and gold lines that ran up and down the scabbard from the neck to the tip which was caped with a dark metallic chape. In the center of the scabbard where the gold was a solid diamond shaped field, was a short script of strange yet beautiful flowing letters. _The_ _Fairy smiths signature _she thought.

It had been long time since she had gazed on it without a battle to occupy her attention and she found herself admiring it warmly. She was ready for this war, her powers were nearly at maximum, her ancient armaments returned. So long as her Master wasn't a fool or a knave she would dominate the battlefield of this Crusade. Setting her face back into its usual cold expression she dismissed Avalon and called out Excalibur, planting its tip lightly on the ground in front of her with both hands clasping the hilt. With her sword still sheathed by Invisible Air it looked like she was holding her arms out grasping nothing. A small female Knight adorned in plate over blue and gold dress standing guard in front of a dank rundown shed.

Will Galvin lay in the dark on his small pad contemplating his lot. Although he had gotten the Saber class he was hoping for, his Servant appeared to be a short woman in armor rather than the epic warrior hero he had been trying for. Will knew better than to judge his servant by her size, in fact he was quite sure that Saber was a fantastic warrior, simply the fact that she was a Heroic Spirit made it probable that she could fight a small army by herself. The problem was that precious few well known heroes were short women, save for maybe Joan of Arc he could not think of any immediately. Although it was possible, he mused, that she was the French Saint he didn't think that it was probable considering that he had used a book of King Arthur tails as the catalyst for summoning. _No_ he thought _it is more likely that she is some rather obscure Knight from the King Arthur legend. The story's are full of different __Knights each with there own little legend. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that one of them was a girl pretending to be a man. Its happened from time to time in legends._

This would be okay but a smaller legend meant a weaker hero and he had heard that some pretty big names were pulled in the last war, and if what the Priest at the church had said was true then they would probably be summoned again for the crusade. _In that case my Servant is probably a little out of her league _he thought. Saber had acted quite confident (the girl wore an expression that could probably freeze brandy) but Will suspected that all Heroic Spirits, each being the hero of their own tail, were probably all quite confident of there own ability's, so that was no real indicator of her strength. On top of this his summoning had apparently been so flawed that his Servant couldn't even astralize. If this was the case then he shuttered to think how else she might be impaired. _Man! I am really gonna half to play this out right to win, at least we aren't fighting the other servants, at least not immediately_. Will rolled over in his sleeping bag and after some tossing and turning fell to sleep.

When he woke up the next morning it was still dark, the time was 7:38 on his watch, meaning that it was around 7:00. Getting up quickly he stretched and collected his thoughts, he had successfully summoned a Servant, that was definitely something to consider. He had slept in his clothes so packing would only take a couple of minutes. As he stuffed his bag back into its sack and rolled up his pad he worked out what they would have to do that day. As he quickly went over his mental list of things to do/get a thought occurred to him, if his servant could not astralize she would need a set of normal clothes to move around in public, but if she was wearing normal clothes then she would be armorless in the case of a surprise attack. _Hm this might be weird, I hope she doesn't have to walk down the road in that getup, or sneak through the bushes whenever she wants to go somewhere. _Still wondering about it he finished packing up and opened the door to step outside.

It was indeed early, with the horizon just starting to light up with the first rays of the sun. Saber was standing a few feet in front of the door with both her hands held out in front of her, one fist on top of the other for some reason. She turned around as soon as he stepped outside and surveyed him with a grim expression. "Master, it is good to see that you are in the habit of rising early. Insomuch as I can say, there have been no Servants that have come close to this place during the night."

"Hm I thought not, either they haven't found us or they don't want to pull anything." Will walked out into the enclave of bushes, Saber falling in right behind him. Before they left the little grove however, will stopped and turned around "Oh uh by the way, we are going to need to get you some clothes that wont draw so much attention if ya wana walk around in public, armor is kinda out of style these days you see."

"Of course Master, I will select appropriate garb as soon as possible."

"Right but I was thinking, inset armor rather time consuming to take on and put off? What will we do if someone attacks us in public and you don't have your armor? Do you need it badly?"

"I appreciate your astute tactical thinking Master but you concern is for naught." Saber said dismissing her armor as she spoke. It disappeared in a glow of gold light leaving her in her blue and white dress.

"Oh wow... that makes things a lot simpler." Saber dress, while elegant and a bit extravagant with the puffed shoulders and dashes of gold, was not something that would really attract that much attention.

"Right well, we have a lot to do today including patch each other up on our strengths, but first breakfast I'm starved."

Saber perked up slightly at this, her rather severe expression mellowing out a little and a odd glint catching her eye. Will didn't notice the rather subtle change as he walked out into the grassy park and then to the street.

*Scene *

Inside a McDonalds Will sat chewing a Egg Mc muffin. _Is it just me or is Saber looking more intense than usual?_He thought as he swallowed a bite. He had offered her some but she had replied "Thank you but as a Servant food is unnecessary." in such a wintry voice that he had felt a chill go down his spine. Now she was just siting across from him staring straight at him without blinking, her eyebrows forming a sharp V on her forehead and the sides of her mouth set in a slight frown. It was kinda creeping him out. "we are gona want to get your clothes next." he said in between bites.

"Indeed." came the reply, cold as ice her eyes still boring holes into him. He stopped trying to make conversation and focused on eating, something that was harder than he felt had any right to be. _Weird, I really hope that she isn't like this the whole time._

For Saber breakfast was a ordeal, she was looking forward to it at first and was rather curious as to what the small establishment was, that curiosity faded quickly once inside. She had once been to a restaurant before with Shirou and had looked back on the experience fondly later. Whatever this strange place was it was nothing like the other. It was loud, strange smelling and dirty with spots of oil smeared across the table they were seated at. Most disturbingly of all was a odd life sized paper picture of a Jester in the corner that was smiling much to widely at her and making her feel like she was being watched.

All this, even the strange Jester portrait, would have been acceptable to her as she had often eaten in worse conditions, but the food was very strange, it was all incredibly greasy and odd smelling. She didn't trust it and had refused when he offered her some. After siting in silence watching her Master eat for about 5 minutes her irritation reached breaking point. She suddenly got up and strode across the room with such purpose that the other patrons of the building turned to look at her even before she did what she intended to do. Walking up to the unseemly Jester portrait she grasped it in the middle and tore it to pieces in front of the ordering line before shoving it into a rubbish sack. Already having gained a few looks because of her dress, the whole restaurant was now staring at her as she walked calmly back to her table.

Will left McDonalds feeling like he had eaten breakfast with a gun pointed at him, after thoroughly destroying Ronald McDonald and shoving the cardboard shreds in a trash can, his Servant had sat back down and continued staring at him ignoring all the customers and staff who were now staring at her. When an employee had come over to talk to her, she had turned her stare on the poor man. His angry speech about "spoiled rich foreigners" had quickly lost momentum. They had departed soon after.

This early in the morning the streets were already filling up with people as they moved along looking for a clothing store. Will had been correct concerning Sabers ability to move about in public, although her dress did draw looks and occasional comments from passerby's, she did not create a commotion as they walked down the street.

They soon found a clothing store that was open and went inside. At the counter they were greeted by a smiling, plump black haired woman who looked them both up and down. After giving Will's jeans and faded green coat a glace she said "Men's clothing is over to the left dear."

"Oh no we are just looking for something for her." Will said. The woman looked a little surprised before telling them that women's was in the back. Walking down the rows of clothing, Saber was delighted to find her preferred outfit folded neatly on the shelf. Throughout their time there Will was approached several times by employees who had seen his rather raged faded green/gray coat and his worn jeans and assumed that Saber was taking him out to buy clothes. 10 minutes later Saber walked out of the store wearing a simple white blouse and long blue skirt with simple blue buckled shoes. It was with greatly restored humor that she accompanied Will all over town the rest of the day.

They spent most of the day walking from place to place getting things that Will thought might come in handy on the trip. Not knowing what the place they were going was like, they wound up buying a small camp stove, dehydrated food a length of rope and some other mundane things. Most would have found it boring but Saber quietly enjoyed the simple time of walking and gathering. Not that Will could tell, her feeling hid as always behind her mask of severity that he couldn't yet read past. They returned to the shack later in the afternoon and turned their attention towards magical things.

"Are you certain this is necessary Master? If we are leaving tomorrow then putting up a bounded field may be a wasted effort."

Will looked up from the ground he was drawing sigils into, unlike normal Thaumaturgey his prefered magic; Formalcraft was based mostly off of circles and regents, a time consuming art, but workable with the level of skill he had attained. "But if we were tracked back hear then couldn't they attack us in the night? Also if I do this you wont have to stay up all night, I know servants don't need sleep but last night cant have been fun."

Saber felt a twinge of amusement, although completely different than Shirou he would every once in a while do something or say something small that reminded her of him. "If they tracked us back here then a simple bounded field will not stop them from finding us. While servants could indeed have tracked us back here it is no good wasting resources in paranoia. I appreciate your consideration of my comfort but I will stand vigil again for tonight."

"... I guess your right."

Will and Saber walked into the shed where Will sat down on the floor and began laying out various items from his backpack and their shopping trip. A few semiprecious stones, a pewter flask, a curious bowl with a silver rim with and a dirty paint set were laid out next to the rope. Will pulled out a small stock of wood and began to run it alongside the inside of the bowls rim in a circular motion, after a moment a sharp keening sound began to emanate from it for a few seconds, before the sound faded away again. Will took his hand off the stock of wood which kept on going by itself.

"There we are." He said with a note of satisfaction "As long as the stick turns and vibrates the bowl nobody will be able to overhear, us magically or otherwise."

Saber looked at the self stirring bowl mildly impressed "That is a very useful tool Master. However many Servants have Magic Resistance and will probably be able to overcome whatever spell it is using, we should avoid putting to much faith in its ability's, especially regarding Caster."

Will smiled "This baby has that covered to, if anyone resists its effects or overcomes it with a spell it will shut down completely, the stick will stop stirring and we'll know."

"Ingenious. If such a artifact had been available to Masters of the previous wars, much grief could have been avoided."

"Yup I always did like it, I have a thing for magical trinkets you know" He said as he started coiling the rope into a spiral cone on the floor. All throughout the next few minutes that they talked about Magic he rarely looked at up instead focusing on carefully painting tiny little symbols on the rope in various places.

"Well as we are now protected magically lets talk magic. What are your specialties, beyond just being a Saber I mean?"

Saber nodded, time to get down to business. "Besides my usual Saber ability's I am also nearly immune to Magecraft, I can sense most missiles before they can strike and have sufficient Mana stored up to last several battles without requiring more, I am also capable of sensing other Servants better than most ."

"Well that's pretty good I guess-"

"Do not, guessing is a poor way to judge the ability's of your servant."

"...Right, sorry. What is your Noble Phantasm?" He asked as he continued painting little black letters on the rope.

Saber paused before answering looking down at the bowl, it was still stirring itself steadily. "My sword is blessed with the attribute of invisibility, it can also launch a large wave of power obliterating all before it. In addition to this my scabbard is capable of healing whoever bears it." _That should be sufficient for now, anything else may reveal my identity._

"You have **3** Noble Phantasms?" Will said stopping his work and looking up at her. _Incredible, maybe we are a lot better of than I thought._

"Yes Master, however many Servants have more than one Noble Phantasm at their disposal.

"What! Really? I thought Noble Phantasms were suppose to be your most powerful ability."

"While a Noble Phantasm does bestow power that is not what it is really, a Noble Phantasm is a object that has become so associated with a Heroic Spirit that it ascends with them upon their death.

"So the more Noble Phantasms the more powerful a Servant is?"

"Not necessarily Master, some Noble Phantasms are weaker than others." Saber was getting worried, if this conversation kept going it could very well lead to inquires of her identity, she was surprised that he hadn't already asked but it seemed to have slipped his mind all day. For this she was grateful, she abhorred lying as a violation of her code of chivalry but at the same time was not yet willing to reveal her Identity. Deciding to move the subject on she spoke up "Speaking of power Master, you have learned of mine, may I ask where your skills as a Magus lie?"

"Hmm yeah, most of my magic is based off of Formalcraft, though I do know some Thaumaturgy. I learned most of it here and there from various freelance instructors though I did spend a while with the Sea of Estray, a rather loose branch of the Mages Association. I'm not to bad as you can see but my main specialty is in magic items like I said before, Mystic Codes if you prefer. Nothing big mind you but I have built up quite a collection of various useful toys over the years, like that bowl. Also I can make my own."

With that said he uncorked the pewter flask on the floor and pored what looked like water over the rope. Instead of washing away the little letters he had painted on to it they glowed faintly as the water touched them and then seemed to disappear. Rather than flowing onto the floor the water seemed to become absorbed into the rope leaving it dry and ordinary looking.

Will stood up smiling and then threw one end of the rope towards a old rake leaned against the wall. It was a poor throw and it looked like the rope would miss, but as soon as it neared its target it suddenly twisted of its own accord, wrapping itself around the rake several times. Will was left with one end of the rope in his hand and the other thoroughly tied to the rake.

"Pretty good eh?" he said before shaking the rope once. It untangled itself and coiled back into his hand.

"That enchantment was well done considering the time you took, it is good to see that my Master is competent."

"Thanks."

*Scene *

It was a few hours later Will was eating dinner. Rather than go out to eat again he had bought 2 large sandwiches to eat later when the were on their shopping trip. Saber was leaning against the wall chewing hers. She had surprised him when she asked for one at the deli after seeing him get his.

"I thought you said you didn't eat?"

"Nonsense Master, food helps us recover energy and stay alert."

"But you haven't even used any Mana yet."

Saber's expression darkened slightly. "You will find **Good **food is also key to boosting morale and soothing malcontent among servants, Master" she had said giving him a meaningful look.

Now they were both eating their rather cold diner as the Sun went down.

Saber ate the sandwich thoughtfully, it wasn't half bad, but being cold it wasn't that good either. Also she was worried about how hard it had been to make him get her some, she suspected that he had only partiality caught on when she told him about morale. She dearly hoped that she wouldn't have to go through that every time she wanted food. Saber found herself missing Shirou's cooking badly.

They were almost done when the magic bowl stopped stirring itself. The both froze and looked at it, the wooden stirring stock had clattered to the ground.

In a second Saber threw the mostly finished sandwich away and summoned her armor. Will headed to the door of the shed. "Stop." she said grabbing his shoulder and pulling him away from the door.

"We need to move!" Will hissed in a coarse whisper.

Saber held one hand up for silence. They listened for a few seconds hearing nothing. Then a strange hissing sound just on the edge of hearing came from somewhere outside before falling quiet again. With one hand still firmly planted on her Master she moved to the opposite side of the room and kicked a small hole through the wall, then she threw her self shoulder first into it tearing through the old wood and propelling them 10 feet out of the back of the shed in a shower of splinters.

Once outside Saber wiped around and shoved Will behind her.

Sure enough a dark figure was standing on the roof of the shed just above where the door was, ready to drop down on anyone coming out that way.

Will looked over Sabers shoulder (an easy feat considering that he was much taller than her) and took in the figure on the roof. The woman was very tall with purple hair that fell all the way down to her feet and spilled across the roof under her. Her outfit was black with dark purple lining like her hair and very tight, keeping close to her body. She was very beautiful. In her hands she held a long length of chain that also fell to her feet. It was then that Will noticed something even stranger, on her face (which was also very beautiful) she wore a blindfold that completely covered her eyes.

"Rider!" Saber called out "What is the meaning of this! As part of the Grail Crusade we are not suppose to be enemy's. Go back to your Master and tell them this."

"Oh? You know me? How?" The Servant on the roof asked in a extremely silky voice.

_I see _thought Saber _It seems that the other servants have no memory of the last grail war._

"It maters not I suppose, my orders were to kill you so that is that." continued Rider.

_Hmm, during the last war I was fighting with a great fraction of my strength gone and I was still more than her mach. Defeating her should be easy now, especially since I know all her tricks. _Saber thought to herself.

"I thought you would say that Rider, come on then!"

Without another word Rider shot forward in a flash of speed that left Will breathless, his eyes unable to follow.

Saber was ready for it and swung both hands forward in an arch. With a sharp Clang! The chain that Rider had launched at her was deflected to the right by her invisible sword. As the chain flew sideways Will saw that it was tipped with an enormous glinting spike.

The instant the first chain was deflected its partner shot out from the side towards her temple. She dodged it by simply tilting her head to the side while striking at Rider who had run in close. Rider slipped under the blow and lashed out with her long leg in a low arching kick trying to sweep Saber off her feet. Saber pulled both legs up in a short jump so that the kick missed her. Planting one spike in the ground Rider used the momentum from her missed kick to swing herself around and out of range of Sabers counterstrike.

Saber charged forward in a flash of her own speed and began a lightning fast series of long slashing strokes that forced Rider to retreat. She backed up further and further until she almost ran up against the shed, instead she jumped back onto the roof. Not slowing down Saber jumped up after her opponent only to receive a mid air kick in the breastplate that sent her back to the ground with a small grunt. Realizing that Rider was probably about to use the roofs height advantage to jump over her to get at Will, Saber ran back to Will in a flash of speed and repositioned herself in front of him. They were now back almost exactly where they had started.

"Back up Master. We need to take away her advantage in height." Saber heard no response and threw a quick look over her shoulder. Will was staring with his mouth open at her. She had seen the same reaction before from several people after witnessing their first Servant battle, it was probably unavoidable but she didn't have time for it. "Master!" she shouted shaking him from the shoulder. He came out of his trance with a shocked "h-h-hu w-w-wwha?"

"Get back farther into the park!"

Seeing that she was about to loose her advantage of elevation Rider decided to act. _Hmm the short girl is almost as fast as me and quite good with whatever it is she is wielding. Getting in close like I did before was a mistake, I will have to keep my distance then and wear her down. _Rather than jump down at the pair like she had before, Rider jumped up and forward sailing over their heads and landing on the other side of them. To her frustration the blue clad warrior had followed the movement despite its speed and was now once again facing her. Trying something new, Rider threw one chain at the girls head and simultaneously brought the other around in a wide waist level ark hoping to wrap it around her torso. The armored girl did not try to parry either chain instead jumping above both of them and flying towards her with her hands drawn back behind her head.

Rider hissed and stepped back, drawing her chains back with her but it was to late, The other Servant was upon her in a whirlwind of invisible strikes that she had great trouble dodging. Part of the problem was that Rider still couldn't see what she was using and that made it much more difficult to evade. She danced away from the blond Servant only narrowly avoiding decapitation. Wanting to get away from close range as quickly as possible Rider jumped away over the bush line and further into the park.

Saber was worried, although her agility had increased to A since she had last met Rider it seemed as though Riders speed had increased in proportion. _Off course, Riders Master in the last war was Shinji Matou, the worm. She must have been drawn by a proper Magus this time one who could unlock her full power._

"Master follow me closely" Saber said. She slowly advanced cutting the bushes to pieces in front of her to allow her Master a clear way through. When they got through to the outside park that the shed had been built for, Saber felt for Riders presence. She could feel her stopped just out of sight down by a parking lot. " Stay close, our opponent is faster than me so if we separate she will run you down."

"ye-yah" Will said still flustered but sounding much recovered.

"Lets go" Saber said running towards the lot at a pace Will could follow.

Will sprinted across the dark grass of the park trying to keep up with Saber who always ran just ahead of him. Halfway to the parking lot where trees grew all around, Rider returned. She practically flew among the trees, throwing her chains down again and again from impossible angels to try and impale her armored opponent. She was going all out with her speed now, moving so fast that it looked more like she was teleporting rather than jumping from tree to tree. The trees were young slender things only twice as tall as a man but Rider seemed to be strangely weightless, barely shaking them at all when she landed and jumped away.

Saber endured all of this, deflecting or sometimes dodging each and every strike aimed at her. Rider had given up on trying to get close or kick, instead keeping her distance constantly and using her weapons unnaturally long reach to strike from 8 to 10 feet away. Saber countered this by cutting the trees out from under her and then burning mana to speed her and close the gap. After a while of this Rider began to retreat towards the parking lot, Saber hot on her heels.

When Saber reached the rather empty parking lot she noticed another figure waiting there next to a motorcycle. It was a man in his mid 30's with thin black hair and a narrow face wearing a dark shirt. Her attention was forced back to Rider who had resumed the assault by darting in close once more trying to stab her. She did not notice the man begin to chant.

It was a poor choice on Rider part she thought as she hammered the Servant again and again with her sword. After a little while of managing to hold her own in close quarters, Rider began to come apart, Saber's swordsmanship to great to be overcome by her adversary's simple speed advantage. After dodging one blow Rider gasped in pain as she was caught in the side by a quick horizontal slash from Excalibur. Dark blood welled up from the wound staining Riders outfit.

Saber was about to make her next strike when the man from earlier yelled out "Alright Rider that's good, Get out of there!"

Rider did a backflip jumping away from Saber and out of the range of her sword. As soon as she was clear the man in the dark shirt, obviously her Master, stepped forward holding out his fingers. "**Douru" **he uttered in a loud voice.

The whole parking lot shook with a resounding **BOOM!** As an explosion blasted the ground right where Saber stood.

The explosion covered Saber with flame and shattered the windows of the few cars parked in the lot 50 feet away, it was heard for nearly a square mile around and sent small chunks of asphalt raining down around Rider and her Masters head.

"All right Rider dispose of whatever is left." Her Master said smiling. Rider ran forward only to stop dead in her tracks. In the center of the crater stood Saber, not only alive but completely unscathed by the Explosion that had broken the pavement beneath her.

"Wh-WHAT!" Riders Master yelled sounding suddenly hoarse.

"That spell was powerful" Saber said "but it is not the place of sorcery to fell a Knight, Master of Rider."

Riders Master turned pale as Saber turned towards him.

" Before I kill you I must ask you, this is not a Grail War. It is a crusade against those who have defiled it, we did not have to be enemies. Tell me why you attacked us, if your answer satisfies me I may consider mercy. If my Master agrees."

"Riders Master looked at Saber for a little before whispering "Shit!" under his breath.

Unfortunately for him Saber heard and took the statement as an unsatisfactory answer to her offer.

She ran forward towards him sword held low ready to cut the man in half, but Rider jumped in front of her before she could reach him. "Run Master get out of here!" Rider yelled as she once again met Saber charge head on. Her Master ran for only a little before turning around again overcome by curiosity.

It was no good, already wounded Rider was no mach for Saber who quickly gave her another wound on her thigh, this one deeper.

Crying out in pain Rider did another set of backflips to get out of range and landed in front of the motorcycle her Master had taken here. A thought occurred to her, she had put about 10 feet between them with those two flips but it wouldn't last long and she could feel herself weakened from the wound in her leg. _I wont survive another close range fight with her _Rider thought.

Throwing her her head back Rider willed her hair to cease the motorcycle behind her, her thick mass of hair writhing around and entangling it. Then with one quick motion Rider brought her head forward in a sharp nod, throwing the motorcycle with nothing but her hair straight at an oncoming Saber's face.

Saber saw the strange improvised projectile coming and guessed at Riders plan. _I see, she shot high, she wants me to duck it so she can strike while I am off balance._ Instead of ducking, Saber simply cut the motorcycle cleanly in half as it came, each severed end flying in opposite directions and missing her.

As she did so, scalding oil from the engine sprayed out splashing Saber in the face and eyes.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she fell forward screaming in pain as hot oil burned her eyes, she couldn't see, the pain was both unexpected and overwhelming and she nearly dropped her sword while holding her face with one hand and stumbling around in agony. Quickly redrawing her warriors instinct she tried to stand up straight but the pain in her eyes was making her dizzy. Trying to wipe away the sticky substance did nothing and after a few more seconds of torment she stopped trying. The part of her brain that wasn't stumbling around moaning was wondering why Rider hadn't attacked yet. Summoning all her willpower she went quiet, stood up straight and held her sword out in front of her even though her brain was still reeling.

Almost as soon as she did so her almost precognitive combat instincts warned her of an incoming foe. She tried to block but Rider was to fast and she was kicked in the face by a very strong leg that sent her backwards. Sabers head hit the pavement as another kick slammed into her breastplate hammering her into the ground.

"Very good Rider! Finish her off!" Came the triumphant voice of Riders Master.

Saber Felt a spike clang against her armor and bounce off, then another, after the third time the spike penetrated and wounded her in the ribs.

Will Galvin was a little behind Saber despite his attempt to keep up and had arrived at the parking lot just after the explosion had gone off. He had watched the battle quietly still in awe of how fast the Servants moved and had said nothing when Saber gave her speech to Riders Master. Then things had gone all wrong. When Saber had been sprayed in the face everyone had stopped and looked on in complete surprise. Even Rider had stopped for about 9 seconds, with her mouth ever so slightly open and her chains hanging loosely in her hands. Rider was also the first to recover, attacking his disabled Servant with a cruel kick to the face.

After hearing Riders Master gloat, Will recovered and sprang into action. Reaching into a pocket in his sweatshirt he drew out a small 22. revolver and ran over to where he stood. Leveling the gun at him he yelled "Call of your Servant **Now!**"

Riders Master looked up at him in surprise and then flicked out his hand towards him. Will shot him twice in the chest, the gun making 2 rather flat undramatic 'crack's before the man could cast whatever spell it was he had in mind. Riders Master fell to the ground with a almost comic look of disbelief on his face. The guy wasn't dead, far from it, he lay propped up on his elbow holding his chest and panting.

Rider looked away from her downed target and saw what had become of her Master, she readied to launch herself at Sabers Master but he spoke up first. "Get away from my Servant! Get away from her and don't take a step closer to me or I'll put the last four bullets in his head!"

Rider stopped, she could move faster than a bullet but at the range the miserable little human was he could probably carry out his threat before she killed him. She considered taking off her mask and petrifying him but as she thought, the blue Servant (probably a Saber now that she thought about it) had stood up again and started walking towards the sound of her Masters voice.

"Put that weapon away or I will kill your Servant and then you." Rider finally replied.

At the sound of her voice Saber spun around facing her, hands held in their tell tail guarding stance, she began to walk backwards towards her Master.

"Haw! I don't think so lady" Will said waving the gun at her Masters head for emphasis.

"Even if you kill him it will take over a day for me to disappear, in that time I could kill both of you seven times over."

Will began to look doubtful.

"Tell me boy, why don't you look me in the eye while I'm talking to you hmm?" Rider said reaching up to undo her blindfold.

"NO! WILL! Don't look at her!" Saber shouted urgently. She was almost halfway to Will now, still going backwards so she could face Rider.

Rider paused. The Saber knew somehow, she had spoken as if she knew her before back at the shed when she had first attacked. Behind her blindfold Riders eyes narrowed, this was getting worse and worse, she needed to get her Master and retreat before the Saber Servant regained her sight.

"Step away from my Master and I wont kill you."

"No."

"Let him stand up and come to me then."

"And if I do?"

"I will take my Master and leave."

Will considered his options, While Saber seemed to have recovered from the pain and was now standing in her usual battle posture she was still obviously blind. So if Rider wanted to kill them she could do it at the cost of loosing her Master. On the other hand if he let her Master go she might kill them anyways. The idea of shooting Rider flitted through his mind for a split second before he smothered it, he doubted he could hit a normal person with his gun at this range and he didn't put it past Rider to be able to dodge bullets. It was a hard choice but in the end it boiled down to: might be killed vs a certain death if he pulled the trigger.

Will looked over at Riders master who was still panting on the ground his breath sounding rather short. A small pool of blood starting to form on the ground under him. "Hey can you walk?"

"I- I think so." he replied

"Get up"

With some difficulty the man gained his feet.

"Walk" Will gestured over to Rider

With his face set in a grimace, Riders Master began to slowly walk over to his Servant, Will keeping his gun trained on him all the way. When he was more than halfway there Will lowered his gun.

Rider swept over to her Master and gave him the support of her arm while putting herself in between him and the foul little device the man named William held. She was playing with the idea of killing him now and accomplishing their original objective but his Servant looked to be recovering rapidly and she could hear sirens in the distance starting to grow louder. _People are coming to see what the explosion was._ Without another word she slung her Master over her shoulder and disappeared into the night.

Will watched them go and then ran over to Saber. "They're gone. Are you alright?"

"I cant see, but otherwise I will be fine."

Will let out a breath and sat down on the pavement. He looked up at Saber standing there, her face and upper body were splattered in black oil and blood. She was looking around for him over his head like a blind person.

"That was close." he said to nobody.

"We need to move, and quickly or we will be discovered by your sheriffs. You must heal my eyes."

Will got up again and inspected Sabers face closely. It looked bad, with oil smeared all over and into her sockets dying her retina's black. Even for a Servant it was a nasty wound, he didn't see how she could have recovered so fast.

Reaching up and laying his hands on her face he applied what healing magic he knew. It did not seem to do much. After a little Saber stood up, holding both hands out in front of her. What appeared in them after a moment was the most beautiful object he had ever seen in his life, an ornate golden scabbard with blue line patterns running down it, she must have heard him gasp because she grabbed him and said "you can admire it later, for now keep healing my eyes." the sirens in the distance were getting louder.

Will kept at it while Saber held the scabbard to her forehead. It was glowing a soft gold and it must have healed her more effectively than he had because after a moment she opened her eyes and said "Lets go." they left the parking lot at a jogging pace.

Saber ran slowly through the park towards the shack they had left behind, they needed to get Wills backpack and then find a new place to hide until tomorrow. She cursed the pain in her eyes silently. Even after having Will heal them and running Prana through Avalon she could still barley see a few feet in front of her and the pain was still severe. A clean wound would have been repaired more easily in a mater of seconds, but in this case her body also had to push away the oil that had worked its way into her eyes. Saber had long ago seen men who had been scalded with boiling oil thrown from enemy's on castle walls, their deaths sometimes took days. While the oil that had doused her had not been boiling, it was still hot enough to scald her flesh. She found herself glad that non magical substances only had a limited effect on Servants.

As they got back to the shed Will ran inside "I'll get my things" he said over his shoulder. Saber sat down and drew out Avalon again. Although the healing property's of the sacred Scabbard were indeed potent, they were also slow usually taking hours to a day to fully heal major wounds thus making its standard healing ability of minor usefulness in combat. Saber began to run Prana through it and grimaced as her eyes began to heal. By the time Will came out carrying his things, she was able to see more clearly though her eyes had begun to itch awfully. Saber resisted the strong urge to rub them.

The two left the shack soon after, with Will looking for a new place to shelter for the night only stopping briefly at a bathroom to try and wash Sabers face. They met with limited successes, the oil not wanting to come off cleanly. After getting out of the park which would almost definitely be crawling with cops for the next few hours, they spent nearly an hour of running around in the dark looking for a place to stop. Eventually they settled for a vacant store that was being remodeled. Rather than smashing it, Saber cut the glass out of the window carefully with her sword, the invisible blade slicing through with minimal effort. This worked until the sword displaced to much glass as it slid through and caused it to crack, they pulled the glass out carefully and jumped in. It was quite dark inside and looked to be devoid of furniture. Both of them sat down as soon as they got in, Will panting and Saber once more drawing out Avalon. After siting for a little Will got back up and waked over to the window, griping the cracked pane of glass he set it back into the window and tapped it. The glass reformed. That done Will turned back to his pack. "Well this should do for tonight, I don't think the police ever saw us."

"You conducted yourself exceptionally well today, Master." Saber said as Will began to lay out his pad.

"What? You did all the fighting."

"Were it not for your quick thinking and action when I was debilitated we would have been killed."

Will was uncomfortable, the idea that he could be killed so easily were it not for Saber did not sit well with him. He had faced magical opponents before, but he had never seen anything like the battle that the two Servants had made. Their impossible speed made him feel very defenseless in comparison. _I don't know why that Rider Servant didn't finish us when she got her Master back, she definitely could have._

"I guess so." Will said.

"Do not, guessing is a poor way to judge your own ability's."

Will looked up at her, she was smiling. It was the first time he had seen her smile and it transformed her entire face.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Will fell asleep 10 minutes later, Saber standing guard over him and holding Avalon, as it healed her at the same time. Tomorrow they would be departing, for wherever it was the Grail had been taken.

Author notes: Well Endymion2314 how was that for an fight scene?

I know that the first fight was not really a crossover battle but they are coming. They are definitely coming.

Finally I don't think I described Will enough I cant find a good place for it in the text either and I don't want to risk forgetting. So in the interest of not pulling a Stephenie Meyers's I will describe him now.

Will Galvin is a little taller than most people, about average build, with sandy blond short hair. His face is rather broad with a few freckles and a semi angular nose. His eyes are hazel. His clothes consist of blue jeans and a short green overcoat that has faded to almost gray. He keeps his backpack with him almost wherever he goes, it is a large tan sagging thing with lots of pockets that he keeps all his stuff in.


	4. Chapter 4

Subchapter: Digging up the dead

8 years earlier

Klaus Ingerels von Einzbern was a grave robber. He laughed at the title he was earning as he did the deed, could the others not see that what he was doing was securing the Einzbern family from possible weakness and preventing the loss of a great tool from the family armory?

It was a cold night in late autumn and the graveyard was vacant. Except for the dirt thrown over his shoulder as he worked, nothing interrupted the stillness of the cemetery. Klaus worked steadily in silence at the grave, adrenaline keeping the cold away from his body even as his fingers went numb from the chill. The hole he had made was already very deep, give or take a foot he should almost be there by now. Sure enough his shovel hit wood with a hollow sounding 'thud' after another 7 minutes of work. Uncovering the top of the casket, Klaus went to work on the lid with a hammer, dislodging and then pulling out all the nails one by one. Finally he threw off the lid and stood, breathing heavily looking down on the withered corpse.

It was a small and only incompletely skeletonized after 6 years, with shreds of dried dusty flesh hanging off of it here and there. It was clothed in the ruined remnants of a dress that consisted of a purple long sleeve top and a white skirt, its dried arms were laid gently at its desiccated sides and the remains of a long since rotted flower were still apparent on its breast.

_Oh how the mighty have fallen _he thought as he gazed down on the body _don't worry my dear, you may have died but your legacy is far from over. _

The corpse looked delicate, that was bad, it would have to be transported carefully if he wanted anything to be left when it arrived back at his workshop. His hands glowed a faintly and the skeleton floated gently up into them. He turned around and placed it carefully into a padded square container that he had brought for this purpose. _The next few months will be very interesting _he thought. Karl carried it out of the cemetery and had it safely stowed 100 miles away in his workshop 2 days later.

The tombstone on the now empty grave read: Illyasviel von Einzbern

May 30th 19 1987- December 19, 2007

Ch 4 Dinner party.

The Present

Corporal Jamison Filglin ran up the stairs, kicked in the door and dove into the room head first curling into a roll as he did so. The trick paid off as two magic bolts sailed over his head missing him. As soon as he was steady he turned his devise and shot the offending training bot 3 times silencing it. Looking around the room he saw no more targets so he pulled up his device and did a short scan. The scan revealed that the room next to him was occupied by 3 targets two of which were employing magic. _The third must be a hostage bot, I need to be careful to work this out without hitting it. _

Taking a breath Jamison readied himself and then kicked the door to the room open. The two bots fired magic bolts at him but he deflected them with a well timed defensor. Then with a precise calculation he multishot both targets at the same time destroying them. Both targets disabled he turned to activate the hostage bot. Jamison was caught completely of guard by a lightning fast bolt of anti magic that nearly broke his Barrier Jacket. He spun around, the third target was another hostile holding a gun that smoked from the barrel and was pointed straight at him. 'RRRNNNTTTT" rang out over the speakers, "Test Failed! Please return to staging room for debriefing and summery."

"What? How did I fail?" Jamison yelled out in frustration. He was currently in a TSAB Mid-Childa training facility, all of his targets had been stand up silhouette figures with standard devices attached, all except the last one which was equipped with a mechanical hand in order to operate the mass weapon that had apparently somehow cost him the test.

"You heard the announcement Corporal, head back in" came Nanoha's familiar voice over a telescreen.

Jamison felt a small jolt of surprise, if Nanoha was watching this session herself then it must have been important, it would also explain the twist with the mass weapon, whatever that was.

When he returned to the staging room Nanoha and another junior instructor were waiting for him.

"What was that at the end?"

"That" Nanoha said mater of factly "was a gun."

Jamison opened his mouth in disbelief "That wasn't a real gun it was just a mass weapon."

Nanoha shook her head "Not any more, now we have a new problem."

*Scene *

Nanoha stood in front of her class, it was a large lecture room that held seats for about 60 trainees all of which were full for today's session. As of today her suspicions had been confirmed, after running the same simulation on several different cadets of varying ability it became obvious that most of the Mages involved in combat situations were unprepared for one of the newest development's in crime.

"As you all know" she said holding up the mass weapon that was laid on her desk. It was a large handgun of common design the exact model of which escaped her at the moment. "This is a common mass weapon used on countless non-administrated worlds and many administrated worlds that persist in keeping them. It is relatively weak, being incapable of penetrating even a weak barrier jacket without massive application over an extended period of time. These things make up for it however in that they require no magic to operate and are quite lethal to unshielded people like civilians."

Even though nobody dared to give Nanoha anything except their complete attention while she was speaking (the consequences for failing to do this had been demonstrated quite clearly on the first day of class) she could tell that the room was getting impatient. This was basics that she was going over, something that everyone in the room had heard several times over in the first week of standard training. As Nanoha ran training for the elite she could understand why many people were under the impression that they were wasting time with this lesson.

Nanoha however was not wasting time. "Over the past few months however TSAB officials have begun to encounter a disturbing new development in these weapons among some criminal organizations."

Nanoha popped open the magazine and removed a bullet from the top. She tossed it across the class to one of the students. "Pass that around."

The student caught it nonchalantly, but twitched when it touched his hand, after looking at it carefully for a little he passed it on looking serious. The second student to get it also twitched when it touched him, he held it up and turned it around between his thumb and forefinger. After a little while he ventured "is this a... Anti Magic bullet?"

Nanoha nodded. "Yes that's exactly what it is. By means that we don't yet fully understand an anti magic field had been permanently affixed to that bullet."

The room came alive with murmuring as the bullet was passed around quickly. "How is that possible?" one of the trainees asked "If the bullet has no core then how does the field maintain itself?"

"As I said we are not quite sure." Nanoha answered "Some scientists have suggested that a new substance which somehow supports the field has been incorporated into the bullet or that a Lost Logia is behind it." In truth there was not much research going into explaining the new discovery, the research and development department was still running but many scientists in other branches had jumped ship to go investigate some new Lost Logia that had come in recently and was apparently a really big deal. It slightly bothered Nanoha that a new budding threat like this could receive less attention because of one new artifact being discovered.

Going back to the bullet Nanoha continued " As you can see the anti magic field on this bullet is extremely concentrated and has no effect on magic up to a half an inch away, however if it does hit you the field is strong enough to significantly damage a standard barrier jacket and do moderate damage to a shield. It would take about 5 shots from this gun to penetrate a barrier jacket, maybe 13 to break a standard power shield."

The murmuring in the room grew louder as the implications set in.

"But captain even then that is not as strong as magic, is this really a problem? I mean it's bad but someone with one of those will still be no match for a Mage."

Nanoha looked over at the questioner sitting in the back. "As of now there are very few of these in use, illegally or otherwise so for now they do not really present a problem for enforcers. However if they were to be produced en mass they could be used to equip criminal organizations with means to use deadly force against Bureau agents by distributing them to non-Mages. With enough of these, a large group of criminals could fight and kill even an experienced enforcer."

That silenced the room again for a little as every Mage present thought about it. The scilence continued until a hand rose in the front.

Nanoha knew the trainee who was raising his hand, a relatively new recruit, sharp and full of enthusiasm but still warming up to her demanding training methods. "Yes Fedant?"

"Captain does this mean more Anti Magic training?" he looked almost afraid of the answer.

"Yes. Especially now since you asked." Nanoha answered.

The entire room erupted into a enormous collective groan.

After class Nanoha walked through the halls to the lunch room, Fate had packed her lunch that day and she swung the box around as she walked.

"Hello Nanoha" a man walked up beside her. She recognized Vedric Keaton, another combat instructor who worked with a lower division. He was a well built man, quite tall, with dark brown hair and Hazel eyes in a well kept brown TSAB uniform.

"Hello Vedric, how is section 2? She said cheerfully.

"Oh they get along, we have quite a large batch of enforcers this year, about 170 in the class level I'm working with.

"That many! I thought my class was full!" _Next years going to be a nightmare_ Nanoha thought _we are definitely going to need more instructors at this rate. _"we are going to need more instructors by next year, right now there are only 4 others at my class level."

"Yes but instructors of your level aren't exactly easy to come by. Plus almost every trainee is competing to be in **your** class." Vedric said smiling at her.

"I see, I suppose I should have been ready for this, next year is going to be interesting."

"They're all hear because of you, you know. Enforcing was considered an appealing job before but now the people who were around during the Scaglietti incident are growing up and joining the force as fast as they can because they spent the last 4 years hearing about Riot force 6 and its captain."

"Please, I was hardly the only hero in that incident. Besides I hope we don't get to many enforcers, after all there is only so much calling for one job."

"Nonsense, with more enforcers the TSAB could expand its influence, just because the crime rate is relatively low here doesn't mean that there aren't places that could use more TSAB intervention. There are many planets where lawlessness still run's rampant. More Enforcers means more power for us in the long run, more control."

Vedric pronounced the word "control" the way a child would say "Candy!" Nanoha was well aware that there were quite a few planets that were still held by tyrants or consumed with anarchy. Having worked a little in such places herself she agreed that the TSAB should help and provide stability, but for some reason that she couldn't place Vedric's little speech made her suddenly uncomfortable.

"Well, that's true but the TSAB is quite capable of bringing peace without swarms of Enforcers behind it."

Vedric burst out laughing at that. Although the conversation had been informative and even pleasant before, Nanoha found his laughing to be surprisingly aggravating.

"Ah Nanoha" he said still laughing. "they told me that you were a little eccentric. That's fine."

Nanoha's eyebrow twitched and she was hit with an urge to Divine Buster Vedric in the face. It was a small urge but she decided that changing the conversation was in order.

"Well Mr Keaton, I'm glad to hear that you think so" She said with a hint of sarcasim (he didn't catch on) "As for my class it is already bigger than usual, but we are coming along fine. They should be ready for Enforcer duty soon."

"I see, your training is as always an example to all of us. But why talk business now? Its lunch time after all."

"Well yes I suppose" Nanoha said siting down at a table and pulling out her lunch. Vedric sat down across from her.

"So they tell me that you aren't from Mid."

"Oh, no I'm an immigrant, my home world is called Earth though it's official listed name is Non-administrated world # 97."

"A non administrated world? I am surprised, I had heard that before but to tell you the truth I didn't really believe it."

"Why not?" Nanoha had stopped smiling a long time ago.

"Oh well the probability of a first class Mage such as yourself coming from an uncivilized planet is remarkable. I must ask how did you first discover Magic?"

Nanoha felt another twinge of irritation at his use of the word "Uncivilized planet", it was certainly not the first time that she had heard people refer to it is such but most of the time they did it innocently enough and she let it slip. With Vedric it made her mad, she felt the beginnings of dislike forming towards him. It surprised her slightly, she usually got along fine with the other instructors and had even known Vedric loosely for about a year now.

"I met another Mage who taught me after he felt I had potental, you have probably heard of the Jewel Seed incident." She told him a little of her past but cut most of it out giving an intentionally dry summary of what happened. All throughout lunch he kept asking her rather personal questions which she put up with stiffly. Nanoha kept wishing that another instructor would come by and sit down with them so that she could talk to somebody else. Once some students had looked like they were going to sit next to them, but Vedric turned and gave them a look that said plainly "we don't wish to be disturbed." they left just before Nanoha could invite them over.

Finally after she finished her lunch she stood up and quickly turned to leave. "Well goodby Mr Keaton."

"Goodby Nanoha. By the way before you go may I ask if you are free tonight? There is a new restaurant that has opened down on East Oliva St, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me."

Nanoha froze with her back to him. Then almost craked up. _So that's what this was all about._ She turned around and looked at him. "I'm sorry Mr Keaton but I am occupied tonight, and for the rest of the month as well, I don't think I will be able to accompany you any time soon." with that she turned and walked out of the lunch room.

Vedric Keaton watched her all the way out with a small frown playing on his face.

*Scene *

Nanoha drove home through the city and into the more suburban areas of Mid till she came to her house. parking in the driveway and taking the keys out of the ignition she walked up the driveway to the front door.

"I'm home" she called out walking in. The house was quite lively, she could hear Fate walking in from the kitchen and the pounding noise of someone running down from the 2nd floor towards her.

"Mama!" Vivio shouted running down the stairs and throwing herself around her waist. Nanoha was a little surprised then slightly suspicious, Vivio often hugged her but this one was a bit excessive, she was squeezing slightly to hard and smiling just a bit to widely. "Oh hello Vivio, I'm back. What have you been doing?"

Vivio looked up into her face with an extremely innocent expression and replied sweetly "I'm being good, I'm being have!"

Fate walked around the corner smiled at Nanoha and then turned to Vivio. "Vivio go back to your room, just because Mama's home doesn't mean that your excused."

Vivio's face changed from its brain meltingly cute expression to a sour pout. She stopped hugging Nanoha and walked slowly back upstairs shooting narrow glances back at Fate all the way.

Fate watched her go up with her arms folded across her chest looking stern.

"What happened?" Nanoha asked as soon as Vivio had gone.

"Well, Vivio got in a fight in school today." Fate said evenly, her arms still crossed.

"What! Really! Did she win?"

Fate looked at Nanoha with an open mouth, her hands flying to her hips. "Nanoha! That's bad!"

"Yes of course!" Nanoha said quickly blushing "I will talk to her about it right away."

Fate nodded at her. "I thought you should, Vivio didn't seem to convinced when I tried to explain that fighting her classmates is unacceptable."

"Well, I got into a few fights when I was in grade school." Nanoha said holding her hands up and smiling. "I'm not to surprised, sometimes stuff like this happens."

Fate smiled back "you didn't know Strike Arts though."

Nanoha dropped her hands and stopped smiling "Did she use Strike arts on a classmate?" She asked, sternly.

"No she punched some boy in the face because he made fun of her. No magic."

Nanoha was relieved, she had explicitly forbidden Vivio from ever using her Strike Arts in school when she had first begun to study them. It made her glad that Vivio had the restraint to keep her promise even when angry."Well I'll go talk with her then."

Nanoha walked up the stairs and then down the hall to Vivio's room, thinking about how her Father had handled her when she was sent home. She opened the door softly and looked inside. Vivio's room was neat as always, with a small desk and a chest of drawers on one side and her bed on the other. Vivio was siting on her bed hunched over with her head buried in a book, Sacred Heart was siting on a small shelf just over her head. Nanoha walked over and sat down on the bed next to her. "Vivio" she said looking down at her from the side.

"Mmmm hmmm" Vivio made out still looking at the book.

"I heard that you got into a fight today."

"It wasn't a fight I just poked him a little."

Nanoha took the book out of her hands and set it down on the bed behind her. "Fate Mama says that you punched him in the face, who should I believe?"

"I poked him hard... in the head... with my fist." Vivio said awkwardly.

Nanoha nearly cracked up at Vivio's description but restrained herself. "So you did punch him. Vivio, you shouldn't lie to me about things like this."

" It wasn't like I just attacked him or anything, he was making fun of me."

"Who is this anyway? Someone you know?"

Vivio's face went back to looking like it was chewing on something sour. "Just some stupid boy named Ricky, he's in my History class.

"What did he say?"

"He made fun of my eyes."

Nanoha laid her hand on Vivios shoulder sympathetically "That was very mean of him but you hit him just for that? If he doesn't like your eyes then just say that he doesn't deserve to be looked at by them and then ignore him."

"I was going to ignore him but then he made fun of me for not having a father."

Nanoha froze at that silently outraged, it made it hard to reprimand Vivio now considering that at Vivio's age she would have been all over anyone who had insulted her parents. On the other hand Fate would never approve of her encouraging Vivios behavior. "Well Vivio.." she said with some difficulty "If he does that then report him to the teacher."

Vivio looked at Nanoha like that was exactly what she had been hoping not to hear. "Its not the same as just punching him."

Nanoha laughed "Yes but life isn't that simple sometimes."

Vivio looked up at her with her eyebrows raised "But you do that all the time."

Now it was Nanohas turn to be awkward, she was afraid that it might come to this, she had hit dead end. "Well Vivio, I only do that to people who... I don't do that unless a person is being really... I don't do that unless I think its appropriate."

Vivio lit up at that. "Oh well I thought it was appropriate."

"Well Vivio you aren't me." Nanoha replied, slightly exasperated. "And I don't want to hear about any more fights from school that aren't supervised duels."

"Okay." Vivio said still sounding a little disgruntled.

Nanoha leaned over and hugged Vivio, who returned it sincerely this time.

"Vivio, do you get made fun of often at school?" Nanoha asked suddenly, up until now she had been under the impression that Vivio was well liked at her school but this incident made her wonder.

Vivio looked up at her and broke out in a smile. "Oh no, I rarely fight with my other classmates, its just that one boy, he fights with almost everybody."

"What happened afterward?"

"Oh well... the teacher had to pull Lio of him because she tackled him right after I hit him."

"Uaaa! Lio fought him to? Where is she now?"

"She got sent home like me." Vivio replied sounding a little ashamed.

Nanoha smiled internally, it seemed that Vivio was getting along just fine with some very loyal friends.

A year ago they had traveled with many of those who had participated in the Jail Incident, allies and former enemies all friends now, to Carnaaji where Lutecia Alpine had established a special training ground. With them had also gone Vivio's friends Lio Wesley and Corona Timil. She had discovered there that both were highly skilled mages almost comparable to her when she was their age. It comforted her sometimes that Vivio had such skilled and reliable friends to depend apon. To say nothing of course of Vivio's special friend Einheart. Although the two were in different grades they were together frequently and probably would have been together even more so were it not for Einheart's rather solitary nature.

"Hm, well I'm glad to see that you have more restraint than Lio then." Nanoha smiled and poked Vivio lightly on the nose "don't worry about it Vivi" she said calling her by her pet name. "but if I hear that you are getting into anymore fights I'll take Sacred Heart away for a week or two."

Vivio smiled and nodded "don't worry Mama I wont."

"I know it. Lets go down and you can apologize to Fate Mama."

Nanoha and Vivio went down the stairs together into the living room where Fate was waiting. Vivio walked forward and apologized to her, they hugged and all was well. 10 minuets later they were all busy making diner together.

"We are making an awful lot, are we expecting someone?" Nanoha asked as they added leeks to the large pot of soup that was simmering away on the stove. Fate was siring it while Nanoha and Vivio sliced vegetables.

"The Nakajima's are coming over for diner tonight, I invited them when Arf asked if they could come." said Fate.

"Really? Yea!" Vivio exclaimed. "ouch!" she had given the knife she was using a flourish and had cut herself on the index finger.

Nanoha looked over, it was only a small cut. Vivio winced a little as she took her hand and ran it under the faucet.

Arf had been staying with the Nakajima's for a while now, preferring to give Nanoha and Fate some time alone with just each other and Vivio. She still dropped by often though and Vivio adored her.

"Yes, it seems that Wendi received a commendation from the TSAB criminal investigation board for apprehending a rather difficult band of criminals, they're coming over to celebrate." Fate said smiling.

"All of them?" Vivio asked.

"Yes they are all coming."

"Ah I knew it!"

Vivio was quite exited from then on, becoming even more of a help than she usually was while they cooked.

Around an hour later the doorbell rang and Vivio rushed to get it. Outside on the porch was the entire Nakajima family with Arf in front grinning wildly at the window with her sharp teeth.

"Arf! Subaru! Nove! Ginga! Dieci!" she said in no particular order throwing the door open.

"Hey Vivio! Arf said to her laughing, "You'll tear the door of its hinges trying to let us in one day."

"Welcome everyone" Fate greeted, stepping out on the porch. "come in."

The small band came in through the door, dressed in casual clothes and chattering quite freely Wendi and Subaru sat down and started taking their shoes off (something Nanoha still preferred). Behind them Arf, Nove, Ginga and Cinque walked in talking at a more subdued pace. Behind them was Genya, his his slightly wrinkled face bearing a smile. Right behind him was Dieci subdued as always but also smiling softly.

"Nanoha!" Subaru said brightly, she ran over and clasped her hands. "I haven't seen you for months!"

"Yes, I've been training a new batch of special forces recently, so I've been especially busy, and haven't gotten out much. They are coming together though so I should be able to slow down soon and take a breath. How is disaster prevention going?"

"Oh, nothing has really happened for a while, so I've been given a lot of free time recently. Did you hear? They are considering shortening Wendi sentence because of what happen."

"Really? that's great. You will have to tell us everything, I'm haven't heard the details yet as to what she did."

"Ha then I have a story for you!" Wendi said, cutting in.

After washing up and settling down they all made themselves at home, Vivio was playing chess with Genya while Cinque conversed with Arf and Fate. Ginga and Dieci stood by watching Vivio play their adoptive Father. Subaru, Nove and Wendi were clustered in a circle animatedly describing Wendi's adventure to Nanoha.

"Okay" Subaru started. "Wendi was doing work for some...

"Now hold on!" Wendi cut her off in her quick slightly high pitched voice "Its my story so I think I will be the one to tell it. I was working as a marksmanship instructor for a civilian self defense training academy, you know one of the private ones where you can pay to go in an practice combat magic with an instructor."

Nanoha nodded, she liked the idea of Wendi teaching others how to defend themselves. _She's doing almost the same thing as me but with civilians._

"Well I have been working there for a little now and it looks like people kinda got to know me, any way one day this kid runs in and tells me that his sister is in trouble and then asks me if I can help because I'm the best fighter he's ever seen, he tell me. So I say sure whats the problem? And then he tells me that his sister got kidnapped by these thugs because his Dad wouldn't pay them money he owed or something. Anyway I asked if he had called the police about it and he said ya but they hadn't found anything yet. So after a little while I went with the kid and started poking around."

Nanoha smiled more and more as the story went on. Wendi was talking a mile a minute and getting faster as she went, Nove kept having to cut in and tell her to slow down so that Nanoha could make sense of the story.

"Anyway, after a few days I found one of their members and followed him to their meeting place. Then I waited till they were all there, called the cops and then knocked them all out. It turned out that they had been trying to track those guys down for months, they were quite pleased. When the entire indecent was reported, I got a commendation and now they're considering lessening my sentence now." Wendi finished beaming.

"A gang in Cranagan?" Nanoha asked. Although crime was not uncommon in Mid because of its important political position, most crime was committed towards TSAB installations by criminals hoping to gain something from the storehouses or record archives that were located in Cranagan. Simple gangs were rare.

"Yep, you don't hear much about them but they exist hear and there." Nove said. "The problem is that the few that do exist are usually really good at evading the police, hence why they still exist. The one that Wendi got was actually only about half of the gang, they were to wiley to all meet in one spot."

Wendi punched Nove in the shoulder. "That doesn't mater, its more that you ever got and now I'm a hero." She said sticking her tongue out at Nove.

Nove brushed it of and then punched Wendi considerably harder in her arm, nearly bowling her over. "Don't exaggerate your own deeds Wendi."

Across the room Vivio was loosing badly to Genya the father of the Nakajima family. "Eh, Father shouldn't you go easy on Vivio a little?" Ginga said as she watched him take one of Vivio's Bishops and add it to his growing pile of captured pieces.

"Nonsense, Vivio will never get better if she doesn't face a difficult situation. Besides its good for a person to loose once in a while."

Vivio looked at the board in despair, her Rooks were gone as was her Queen, all she had left was one Bishop, one Knight and a remnant of pawns. "Ga. This is hopeless, how can I even do anything with so few pieces?"

Genya leaned over the board and considerd it from Vivios angle for a little. "Well I see one thing that you could do. Just look around at your position a little, you still have your Knight."

"Its just one Knight. And you have both of yours."

"Hmp. Don't underestimate the Knight Vivio." He said picking her captured Knight out of his dead pile and holding it up between his fingers. "The Knight is arguably the best unit in the game, they can jump over other pieces and move in unconventional ways. They are nearly impossible to corner and bring down, not even the Queen can fight like they do. Its no accident that the unit that can dominate the board so well if used correctly is named after the ancient Belkan warriors."

Vivio looked at the piece he was holding up. "That's not how Knights fight, Signum and Vita always fight their targets face to face."

Genya smiled. "Well that's true but it wouldn't work in chess because it's a strategy game. The point is that the maker of the game went out of their way to make the Knight an very influential piece that can turn the tide of battle with skill. If the knight is good enough it can claim victory even when outnumbered. Now make your move."

Vivio looked at the board a little, then moved her Knight away from Genya's Rook and clear of his pawns. Genya moved his Queen forward trying to hem it in. Vivio moved it away further and into the protection of her Bishop. Genya moved up a pawn. Letting out a "Ha!" Vivio moved her Knight back up and took out one of Genya's Bishop's. She grinned at him.

"Very good, now yous see what I meant." He frowned at the board and them moved his Queen forward a little. Vivio looked at it and laughed, he had just passed up a chance to save one of his Rook's. She ignored his Queen and jumped over his pawns taking the exposed Rook with her Knight.

Genya smiled slightly and then move his remaining Rook all the way across the board. "Checkmate."

Vivio stared at it "Eh!" Then flopped backwards out of her chair onto the floor spread eagle.

"Vivio don't do that the the chairs!" Fate said from across the room.

Genhya looked down on her from his seat. "Well, you did well enough but you forgot about the goal: defending your King. Even the best Knight is nothing without its master."

"I knew it was hopeless." Vivio lamented from the floor.

"You'll get better when you get older."

It was dinner time a little later, Fate, Arf and Dieci setting the table together while the others gathered round. Siting down together the two families said a brief Mid-Childan grace, and then dug in. Fate had made a huge pot of beef stew with biscuits for the occasion and there was plenty for everybody. For a little there was a lull in conversation as everyone tried the food.

"This is great." Subaru said after taking a few mouthfuls of the stew. There was a a general exclamation of consent from the entire table after which conversation returned full force. Everyone found it delicious (Except, secretly, for Arf who much preferred her meat off the bone) and the table broke out into chatter once more.

"Subaru, where is Teana? Is she still working?" Nanoha asked across the table.

"Yeah she was busy and couldn't come, though she wanted to. I think she is working on some theft case." Subaru replied. "Speaking of work you said that you were working with a new batch of special forces, how are they looking?" Subaru said as she started on her second bowl.

"Well" Nanoha said slowly, still working on her first serving. "they aren't Riot Force 6 but they are coming along nicely, some of them are as strong as you were when we started together. I think that they will make some very good enforcer teams. I'm not just working with one group though, I have been working with an older group for months now and they are almost ready to go active. But most of them were enforcers or powerful mages before I began working with them."

"So you are doing two groups at once?" Wendi asked looking amused. "Wow you must be really busy all the time."

"Well I'm not **that** busy, its not like I'm the only instructor in the place. Actually now that you mention it I was going to take this Week off and go camping with Yuuno."

"Eh? Yuuno? I haven't heard from him in a while actually" Arf interjected "He invited us to go camping with him? He never told me anything."

"Well he invited me and Fate at least. Though now that I think about it he never mentioned Fate." Nanoha said looking thoughtful.

"What happened?" Arf urged.

"He had to call it off, work I think. Apparently something big happened and he had to help with it."

Subaru followed the conversation a little bewildered "Wait, Yuuno? Wasn't he that Librarian that you knew from..?"

"I've known Yuuno since my childhood, he is a dear friend of mine even if we don't see each other very often anymore."

"Well I see him all the time" Arf said putting her thumb to her chest. " I just haven't been in the Library recently, otherwise I would know what's going on."

"What have you been up to Arf?" Fate asked

"I've been working with Ginga a lot recently, they let me help her on some of her cases, it's quite exiting actually."

"They let you help with investigations?"

"Its no big deal" Ginga said "She gets a lot respect when they find out that she is your familiar. She helps quite a bit to, when she isn't fooling around and distracting the other inspectors that is."

This last comment brought a chuckle out of the entire group.

The night wore on and they talked together for a long while through desert and cleanup, after diner they split up again, Arf played Wendi chess (Wendi lost badly) while Subaru put in a movie. Eventually the night wore down and the two family's fared each other farewell. Although nether knew it, it was the last joyful bit of peace that they would have for a long time.

.

Authors notes: well sorry about the long wait for the short chapter. In truth this was the smaller piece of a larger chapter that simply got to big. The other chapter is almost finished so you should see it very soon if not within the next few days.

With this chapter I wanted to give the Nanohaians a peaceful bit, pleas don't begrudge them it, its the last they will get for a very long time. Also Nanoha has been known to Divine Buster people who begrudge her such time. You have been warned.

Also I promise you that Illya is not coming back as a vampire or something stupid. I'm not that uncreative.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch: 5 Crusade Launch

It was a clear, crisp night and the moon shone off Saber's armor as she stood outside the old church looking at the entrance. It was here of course that all the Masters were instructed to bring their Servants and meet. Although she had no fondness for the place Saber thought it fitting that the Crusade would begin here. Though the place still held bad memory's for her it no longer exuded the presence of foulness that it had 17 years ago under Kotomine.

They had spent the day thoroughly healing Saber's wounds, a process that took only a few second once the oil was cleared form her eyes, and then going over anything they had missed in supplies the day before. Saber was now completely healed from the last nights encounter, Avalon having done infinity more than Will's limited healing ability.

Mostly though, the day had been wasted. Despite their best efforts to stay productive there was really not much that they could do on Will's limited funds. Even looking for other Masters would be pointless as they would probably meet them all that night.

Saber spent most of the day in silence, after going over with Will what to do in the case of another Servant attack she had planed on reviewing with each other what they knew of the enemy. She had then realized that she knew nothing whatsoever about the enemy and that the same went for Will. The Grail had informed her right before her summoning that it had been defiled and then stolen by an coven of strange Magus that called itself the TSAB, Will had never heard of them, commenting that it "Sound's like a charity organization or something."

Saber realized that she was nervous, it was a unfamiliar feeling to her. As one unaccustomed to fear she had not felt such restless energy for many years. At first she thought that she was afraid of meeting the other Servants again, but realized that this was not true, although she had been apprehensive, and sometimes even slightly intimidated by other Servants before, she had never truly been afraid of any of them. It was Shirou that she was worried about. Saber found that she dreaded the possibility of meeting him as the Master of another Servant.

After looking back at Saber as if to make sure she was behind him, Will walked up to the church and knocked on the door. After a little while the door opened and the blond haired woman who had called herself Samantha Green poked her head out the door. Looking down at him she brightened up "Oh I remember you, did you manage to summon someone then, dear?" she said in an almost overly cheerful voice.

"Yes Ms Green this is my Servant" Will said gesturing to Saber who stood right behind him.

"That's wonderful, come in and sit down the other Masters are just arriving." She said with her to big smile, opening the door for them.

Will and Saber walked into the the church slowly. It was just like Saber remembered it, fairly large, with most of the space being taken up by rows of pews and the far end being dominated by an Alter, pulpit and a few bookshelves. She did not miss a familiar long haired figure who was standing by the bookshelves reading.

Saber appeared calm as usual but was fingering her sword with her right hand. Even though the Grail had proclaimed that it was not required that the Servants fight each other she did not really believe that they would or could be allies with the other Servants, at least not most of them. Rider's unprovoked attack on them the day before had only reinforced her belief that this was true.

As Saber walked behind Will down the line of pews towards the back a familiar voice rang out loudly. "Hey would you look at that, I didn't know that they made em that small!"

Saber looked over into the aisles, there sure enough was Lancer, sprawled out lazily across a pew with his crimson longspear Gae Bulg propped up against the side. It looked like he had ripped the pew clean out of the floor and turned it around so he could sit facing the front doors. "Hey girl" he called out to Saber "Is your Servant lending you his armor while he wears your dirty little green coat?"

"You are Lancer I presume." Saber said ignoring his jibe and feinting ignorance.

Lancer seemed to think about this for a moment before giving an exaggerated look up at his spear. "That's me, how did you guess? I am going to take a look at you and saaaayyy... Saber. What with the armor and the stuck up expression you are definitely a Saber." He said jovially with a big grin on his face.

Lancer wore his usual tight blue outfit with silver gray steel pardons, but his hair, instead of its blue color from the last war was now a clear red orange shade. _That's odd _Saber thought, _why would his hair color be different? _

"Yes I am the Servant of the sword" Saber replied. Normally she would have risen and offered battle for such insults from another Servant but she knew Lancer from the last war, even if he no longer remembered her, and was familiar with his sharp tongue. She also felt indebted to him to some degree. In the last war he had stayed behind to fight Gilgamesh and ultimately sacrificed himself so that she and Shirou could escape. Although he had done so for his own personal reasons Saber's sense of honor still held her as in his debt. Now that she thought about it, the site of that battle lay only just below them.

"Master, let us continue on" Saber said to Will. They walked away from Lancer further towards the back of the church.

"Well goodbye then dignified Saber, go hang out with Lady boring hood over in the corner. Keh!" Lancer snorted.

Saber was struck by his last statement. _A hooded female Servant..._

Will looked over his shoulder at Lancer as they walked past him. "Is it just me, or did that Servant say "hang out with"? I didn't think you guy's picked up on modern slang that much."

"We Servants can pick up on your terminology quickly though few of us chose to use it, Lancer however delights in provoking, it is likely that he concentrates on learning lowly jargon for no other reason than to antagonize."

"Oh, well did you see his Master anywhere?

Saber nodded over to a tall woman in a brown almost purple business suit with violet hair who was looking at a stained glass window on the side.

Walking to the end of the pews they stopped, Saber looked over, just as she had feared the blue and violet hooded form of Caster was siting, quietly watching her from the far corner of the foremost pew. Next to her sat an older man in a navy blue longcoat perhaps in his late 40's with gray hair and a very hard looking face. Behind them stood a man in black leather trench coat with sunglasses in guard position.

Saber looked back at her coldly before gesturing for Will and walking over to the pew furthest from Caster.

"That Servant is Caster."

Will looked over at Caster in the far corner and squinted at her "She does look like it but how do you know?"

Saber resigned herself inwardly, she knew that this would come sooner or later. "Unlike the other Servants, Master, I have retained my memory's from the 5th Holy Grail war."

"What? Is that unusual?"

"...Never mind that's not important right now. I know that Servant from the last War, she is a powerful and treacherous witch with no regard for human life. We must beware her."

Will nodded and gave Caster another look. "Got it."

Saber turned once more and began surveying the sanctuary looking for any others she may have missed.

Next to the bookshelves stood Rider who gave them a glance and then went back to reading. Siting in a chair nearby looking very embarrassed was her Master. Giving him a closer look Saber saw that he was a short thinnish man, with stringy black hair and a large nose that suggested a French heritage . He was being careful to look anywhere but in their direction. His clothes hid it well but she could still make out the form of a mass of bandages underneath his shirt.

Saber continued looking around the room, in the complete back behind the alter and shrouded in shadow sat an old decrepit man who was observing her with half open eyes. He was impossibly wizened, with a tiny shriveled body wrapped in a black kimono. His neck was so thin that it looked like his head could break off if he moved suddenly, said head was completely bald, a pale malformed thing with an oddly square face. Although he was clearly a human he had a presence that Saber could detect, a malevolent stink that pervaded from his corner and reminded her of the dieing. There was no sign of any servant anywhere near the old man.

_That's strange, if he is not a Master then what is he doing here? Unless he is with the Mages Association... What a foul presence... _Old man though he was,Saber made a mental note to keep a sharp eye on him, to her experience judging Maugs by appearance or failing to regard them at all almost always ended badly.

"Well now that we are here I guess we wait." Will said siting down on the pew and laying his backpack on the floor. "You want to sit down?" he said once he saw that Saber still stood.

"A Servant never sits in the presence of their enemies."

Will cast a long glance over his shoulder at Lancer who was siting down humming to himself and absently drumming his fingers on his spear.

"I think we're okay for now Saber, I don't think any of the Servants will attack when we're here, they'd run the risk of being eliminated by other Servants once they were finished, its a Mexican standoff."

"A what?"

"Oh, well its when no side can act against another without exposing themselves to the rest."

"That may be true Master but it is no excuse to let down our guard, besides there are Servants who can kill without revealing their presence." Saber said thinking of Assassin, although the Servant from the last war had been incomplete and with no stealth ability, the Servant from the 4th war had been quite capable of concealing itself and killing from the shadows as was usually the Assassins wont.

"Okay if it makes you happy keep standing there." Will said holding his hands up.

Saber frowned, that was not exactly the response she had been looking for, it seemed she would have to fill him in on the finer points of Assassin and Caster when they were alone.

Will sat on the pew with Saber standing next to him for some time. Despite all the people inside, the church was very quiet with nobody speaking. At one point it looked like Lancer was going to walk over and talk with them again but halfway there his Master called him back, he had gone back to his place with a bored scowl.

As Lancer walked back Will nodded at him. "Do you remember him from the last war?"

"Yes, he is a swift Lancer Servant with a very deadly Noble Phantasm. He's quite brash, but honorable in his own way."

Will nodded again before going back to siting in rather tense silence. Despite the relatively long distance between the various Master/Servant pairs in the room there was still a strong sense of weight in the air, the pairs of Crusaders sticking to themselves and only conversing in occasional whispers.

Wills wristwatch moved from 8:22 to 8:47 before anything really happened. As he was starting to wish that he had brought an ipod or something to pass the time, the doors of the church opened and in walked a pair of figures.

Saber had been alternating between eying the old man in the corner and keeping a watch on Caster when the doors opened. Turning to see who it was she gasped audibly, her eyes opening in shocked surprise.

Walking stately up the line of pews with a very nervous looking black haired girl trailing behind him was one of the last figures Saber had expected or wanted to see in the world.

The man was dressed in dark robes that puffed out extravagantly about the head where they were streaked with crimson. His skin was pail, his ringed hands were claw-like with long nails and swirling red line patterns on them. Although pail, his face might have once been handsome were it not for his eyes. They bulged literally almost out of their sockets, huge, round and set with gigantic gaping black pupils that looked like pits and recalled deep black pools of foul water.

Sabers felt a tremor of violent emotion run down from the base of her skull through her body all the way down to her feet. A blast of cold fury that welled up inside her from springs of hatred long forgotten. Her hands clenched involuntarily and found her sword.

"**YOU!**" Saber snarled, her expression twisted into a sneer of pure rage as she shattered the tense silence that had settled over the church. Saber pulled her sword up and launched herself across the room at him in a blur of motion. "**BLUEBEARD!**"

The dark robed man gave a weird and very unregal squawk of surprise as he saw her coming and shot a spell at her that fizzled out harmlessly against her magic resistance. Before he could so much as try to cast another spell or jump back she was in front of him.

Saber bashed him full across the face with the flat of her sword, sending him to the floor in one fell blow. Then grabbing him by the front of his garment with one hand she lifted him halfway to his feet and pressed Excalibur to his throat.

The man began to claw at her hands and arms with his nails, desperately trying to break her grip on him but his nails scraped harmlessly off her gauntlets and while he was probably very strong by human standards, Saber hardly registered his efforts to dislodge her.

As soon as she had shouted the entire room was jolted out of its nervous apathy. Bluebeard's Master let out a piercing shriek, fell over backwards and began scrambling away on her hands and knees. Lancer and Rider had each jumped to their respective Masters sides. Lancer was holding Gae Bulg out in front of him in ready striking position and watching the situation with a slight frown. Samantha Green, the Mages association representative was running towards them yelling her head off in high pitched shouts of "Stop! No fighting!"

Her Master, Will was sputtering "wha- wha- S-Saber don't!" while running over to her. Caster and her Master had risen and were watching from the far end, having moved only a little to better see what was going on. The only one in the room to have not moved at all was the old man in the corner who watched the proceedings with an amused glint in his eye.

Saber heard all of this but didn't really care, this man before her was a monster, one that she had slain long ago and put behind her permanently, there was no way she was ever going to go through that again, not if she could help it. _Then why don't I finish it?_ She thought, although she had him at her mercy, something was still keeping her from decapitating the man. _If I kill him now we will probably be disqualified from the crusade. Not that that would stop us but it would be troublesome, and I would be violating the sanctuary of this place. No, this place lost its claim to sanctuary long ago, killing him would violate nothing. _Still caught with indecision Saber began to press Excalibur against his neck harder, causing a line of blood to appear.

"Stop! Stop! I command you in the name of the Mages Association, stop! Somebody stop her!" Samantha Green shrieked as she reached them. At first it looked like she was going to rush forward and try to pry Saber off of her hapless victim but Saber shot her a quick glance and the woman stopped dead in her heels suddenly not so keen on trying to separate two struggling Servants with her bare hands. Instead she kept her distance and began shouting again.

"Stop! This is a place of non aggression, we are not here to fight one another, if you kill him I will see you expelled from the crusade! I will have the other Servants and the Mage Association hunt you and your Master down! I am the Crusade organizer and the Mages Association representative, you have to do what I say!"

Saber glanced sideways, _that woman is beginning to annoy me._

Will had reached them finally. "Saber put him down! If you kill him we will be disqualified. he waited for Saber to respond. When she did not he added Don't make me use a command seal on you."

Saber gave one last look at a trembling Bluebeard and then let him go, he fell back on his haunches gasping and rubbing his neck.

She supposed it would be unwise to kill him at this point and if her Master used a command seal they would be wasting a valuable resource. Now that she had failed to go through with it Saber felt a little embarrassed as she walked back to Will's side.

"Well I guess the Saber does have a little life in her, who knew?" Lancer said, now wearing a grin. "I think this means she doesn't like your face, fish head." he continued, laughing at Bluebeard.

"You!" Samantha yelled pointing at Will. "If you cant keep your Servant in line then get out! I wont tolerate her doing something like that again!" the woman's previously friendly tone had gone out the window, replaced by a angry shuttering thing with specks of spit flying out of her mouth as she shouted at him. "Go! Get in the back and stay there! If you cause an more trouble, so help me I will have you killed!"

Saber frowned, she had expected being yelled at for trying to kill Bluebeard but now the Magus was directly threatening her Master.

"That is enough woman." she said, pointing an invisible Excalibur at Samantha with one hand at eye level. "You may shout at me but if you threaten my Master I may not forgive you. If you expected all the Servants to gather in one place without fighting then you delude yourself. Someone like you will not live long."

"Saber that's enough. Lets go" Will said urgently.

Samantha's face fell for a moment revealing a hint of fear mixed with indignation "Just take your Servant away." She hissed. Turning around she helped Bluebeard's Master up off the floor. "Are you alright dear?" Her voice had gone back to a simpering friendly tone.

Saber and Will began to walk back to their previous seat. "What was that all about!" Will hissed to her in a whisper.

Behind them Bluebeard had drawn himself up and once again resumed his stately poise. He spoke for the first time in a soft almost feminine voice with a slight French accent. "Well milady, I suppose I must thank you for sparing my life but may I inquire what I have done to earn such a reception?"

Saber ignored him completely as they returned to the far end of the church.

"Well then, I suppose I cannot count on all women being so temperate in their ways as yourself Madam Green." He continued turning to Samantha and helping his Master up.

"Are you hurt my dear?"He said laying both his hands softly on the girls shoulders. The girl who was his Master shook her head vigorously looking terrified of him.

"That's good... let us retreat to warmer waters then until the other Masters arrive, I thank you for your timely intervention Lady Green, I will remember it in the future." He said smiling at Samantha. "Come girl." he said coldly to his Master who scrambled behind him as he walked away to the corner nearest to the door.

Will and Saber arrived back at their pew that they had been waiting at. Neither sat down.

"Okay Saber what was that?" Will demanded

"Forgive my outburst Master but I also knew that Servant from before, he is a vile blackguard who preys on children and summons demons to fight for him. I had almost forgotten about him and the sight of him caught me off guard."

Will rubbed the bridge off his nose "Look I'm sure he's a terrible person but it really doesn't mater right now, if you kill another Servant they'll retaliate and we wont be going anywhere."

"Forgive me Master I will restraint myself in the future."

"Aright, just don't kill anyone unless I say." Will paused and looked over at the far form of the robed man and his small Master in the front of the church.

"So, who is that guy exactly?"

"That man is a Caster Servant who goes by the name of Bluebeard, he specializes in summoning monsters and sorcorus mists. More than this though he is a monster himself who takes pleasure from inflicting pain on others, especially children. I fought him alongside another Servant and slew him in the war before last."

"Wait you were in more than one war?" Will said leaning forward intently wide eyes.

"I was, it is uncommon but not impossible, when I fought here in the first time in the 4th War the catalyst of my summoning was left behind and reused for the 5th. That is how I know two Casters by experience."

"So, aside from your skill earned in life you also have **two** grail wars worth of experience to draw from?"

Saber nodded.

Will leaned back again looking thoughtful. "Saber, when he spoke it didn't sound like he knew you at all. In fact neither did that Lancer Servant, why is it that no one seems to remember you if you met them in the last war?"

Saber calculated her answer before replying. "Most Servants loose all memory of the Grail War after they disappear. As our existence is tied to our life and our legend we only remember that which is part of our life or legend and loose all else upon our return to the Throne of Heroes. Because our actions in the Grail War's are neither part of our original lives or part of our legends we forget all that transpires during them."

Will was surprised _wow... that's kinda harsh._ "But then how do you remember?"

"One of my Noble Phantasms allows me to remember." Saber lied blatantly, she despised lying but the truth was not something she was wanted to reveal to Will yet.

Will on the other hand was quite pleased with her false answer. _Wow, it looks like I have done much better than I thought when I drew her. Not only is she strong enough to beat that Rider woman but her experience will be invaluable when dealing with the other Servants. "_Hm! Well then it looks like we have an edge in that regard." He said smiling.

They went back to waiting.

About 10 minutes later the doors opened again. As every one looked up to see who had come, Saber smiled. There in the door stood Rin and behind her loomed the imposing figure of Archer.

Rin walked into the church for the second time that week with Archer at her back. The lady at the door had been irritating in her enthusiastic greeting, like they were all meeting for a party or something. Now the church was occupied by a strange group indeed, a strange and half familiar group. Lancer was standing by a stained glass widow next to a woman in a suit that she recognized as Bazett, a former Master of the 5th war who had nearly been killed early on and put out of commission by Kirei, who had stolen her command seals. Rin had only met her briefly after the war.

Rin looked up to the front of the church and felt her mouth go suddenly dry. Archer looked over and saw Saber as well. If he was at all surprised he didn't show it.

Rin walked up the aisles slowly till she reached the end and stood in front of Saber.

"Rin." Saber said in a voice as soft as her smile.

"Saber." Rin said stiffly.

"Rin?" Said a strange unkempt man in a questioning voice. Probably Saber's new Master, his sudden appearance broke the spell. Rin looked him up and down, he was dressed in worn semi wrinkled clothing and looked like he hadn't bathed for a while. _It look's like Saber got another imbecile for a Master. Even Shiro at least had a good change of clothes before I taught him._

"Saber do you know this woman?"

"Yes Master, she was a participant in the last Grail War though it is better not to go into detail here." Saber said nodding over to Caster who was watching them again from the corner.

Rin looked over and saw her. _Damn, I knew she would be here. _"It would be better if we could take this outside, besides I have something to show you."

Will looked at Rin suspiciously "Saber are you sure of this woman? She is a Magus after all."

"You have my word that we can trust her Master."

Will deliberated for a second "Okay"

The four of them left the church together, outside the night was crisp and very full of stars. Rin addressed Samantha Green at the door.

"Ms Green we will be leaving to confer privately with each other and will return in about two hours. I trust you wont start without us"

Samantha looked unsure how to respond, she gave Will and Saber a suspicious look. "Whatever it is you have to say to each other you can say here, I won't have you plotting together when I am trying to promote unity."

Archer looked like he was about to tell her off but Rinhad already narrowed her face into one of her renowned scowls I assure you that you needn't worry about us plotting Ms Green" She said coldly. "And as for your authority to ban us from the Crusade if we don't comply, maybe you forget who you're talking to, in case you don't remember I'm the official Association Mage among the Masters."

Samantha went bright red and her face twisted back into her old hideous expression that she had worn when she had been shouting at Saber.

"You have two hours." she spat. "Go and do whatever it is that you will but remember, I am the authority around here, and I wont tolerate factions."

"Fine" Rin said and then walked away, the others tailing her closely.

"Man, that lady has some anger issues." Will said as soon as they rounded the corner. " I think-"

Archer cut him off, the large Servant was standing in front of a very nice looking car and holding the front passenger door open for him. "Get in."

Will paused giving Rin and Archer a dark look as he considered the open door before him. "If you try anything I will have my Servant cut you in half." he said to Rin.

"Yes, yes. Come on we don't have all night" Rin breathed impatiently.

"Where do you want me to sit?"

_Hmp it seems he has a brain at least. _Rin thought to herself.

"In the front next to me. That way our Servants can keep track of each other in the back and if you try anything on me we crash. I wont be able to try anything on you while driving."

Will nodded and then climbed into the front passenger seat. Rin walked around and then got into the driver position next to him. Saber and Archer seated themselves in the back, each behind there respective Master.

"Where are we going?" Will asked, inside his coat he had his hand on his .22.

Rin looked over at him and noted his hand hidden inside his battered coat. _I see it looks like he is taking this seriously. Good. _She prepared Gandrshot just in case, ready to blast him if he pulled a gun out.

"To my estate, not to far from here. I need to fill Saber in on some things as well as give her something."

"Fine then, Drive."

The trip took about 15 minutes in which they sat in silence, Saber had a great many questions that she wanted to ask Rinbut she didn't want to ask them with Rin's back to her. Archer was a wall of silence spending the entire trip looking out the window quietly. After about two minutes Will relaxed easing his hand of his gun, it was a bad spot for an ambush and caution could only go so far in any case.

They pulled up in front of Rin's house, it was the same large two story mansion that she had grown up in, well kept and very regal. Will gave her mansion a once over. _Ah I see, one of those high class rich association Mages who think they run the world. Typical. Oh well I can work with this fine. _"Nice place."

"Thank you" Rin said "Please come in"

The group of four walked across the drive and came in through the front door, Rin fumbling for her keys a little in the dark before finding them. They stepped into an enormous extravagant front hall with doors leading off into various other rooms and a large staircase going up. Moonlight streamed in through many windows giving enough light to see by.

As soon as the door closed behind them Rin turned and faced Saber. In truth she was feeling rather lost.

She had looked forward to Sabers return with great anticipation, more perhaps than was normal considering she had only known her for about a week, but now with her here she didn't really know what to say. _It feels incomplete without Shirou here._ She thought briefly. "Saber, it's... good to see you again." she managed.

Saber smiled softly as if she knew exactly what Rin was thinking. "Yes Rin, It does my heart glad to see you again, in truth I have spent these last Seventeen years inside the Throne of Hero's in doubt."

Saber removed her gauntlets and then clasped Rins hands in hers, surprising everyone in the room.

"When I last disappeared I knew not whether you survived Kotomine's knife. Although my intuition assured me that you lived it is... reliving to see you alive and well in the flesh." Saber said squeezed her hands warmly.

Rin surprised herself when she felt a little heaviness around her eyes. She blinked quickly several times.

Will was watching open mouthed, he was getting very nervous. _Something tells me that if I told Saber to kill that woman, she wouldn't comply. *#!^ I knew it! They must be former master and Servant. I would have to use a Command Seal just to get her to fight, and then she would be against me forever. Did she bring me here to steal my Seals? If I force her to strike now it might be my only hope. On the other hand she already has a Servant, it would be useless to try and maintain 2 at once, in that case I'm __still safe. Unless she brought me here to give to a friend._

"You talk different Saber" Rin said oblivious to Will's deadly inner debate.

"Do I?"

"Yes, its subtle but yes"

Saber let go of her hands, dropped her smile and looked Rin straight in the eye. "Rin, where is Shirou?"

Rin sighed. _So now we come to it. _"He's gone Saber."

Saber took a step back, and turned away from Rin, she put her hand on her breast, her eyes widening slightly. "I see."

Rin panicked. _NO! I put it all wrong and she took it the worst way possible!_ "No Saber you don't understand! He's not dead."

Saber turned back to her. "What do you mean?"

"He's **gone**. He went off on one of his ridiculous little self appointed missions and disappeared into South America six years ago, he was tracking down some hack of a Maugus who was selling magic to rebels or something. He never came back." she finished in a small voice.

"South America?"

Rin stopped. _Of course, she wouldn't know where that is, how stupid of me._ "Its a continent far from here, lots of jungle."

"Jungle?"

"Gah! Very thick forest!"

"So, he may still live. That is... heartening, but dead or alive he is out of our reach." Saber said turning away again.

"So who is this guy Shirou?" Will said breaking the reverent mood rather awfully. He had been listening to the conversation with growing confusion. Whatever they were talking about it seemed to be affecting his Servant strangely. Whats more it was something he had no knowledge of and he didn't like it.

Rin shot him a nasty look "Her last Master."

Will was suddenly very relieved, something that he couldn't keep out of his voice entirely when he asked "Oh I see, so who are you then?"

"An old ally, we helped each other in the last War."

"Well then, I suppose it's good to get back in touch with old acquaintances, are we done here?" he said with an edge of impatience.

"No" Rin said icily at him. Her dislike of the newcomer growing.

"Rin, how much does Archer remember?" Saber asked.

Archer who had been standing off to the side the entire time spoke up. "Not much, I remember bits and pieces of the last War but beyond that my memory is hazy. I remember some of my battles, but the majority of the details are lost."

"I see, Rin what do you know of our enemy this time?" Saber pressed on knocking off her questions systemically.

"More than most actually, what we are up against is... well..." Rin suddenly had to fight the urge to burst out giggling. It was so weird, and it clashed withher present mood terribly. Up till now she had been grim, then sentimental, and then back to grim again but now the absurdity of telling **King Arthur **that they would be fighting space men from another dimension hit her full force. She was never much of a science fiction fan but the bizarreness of it was not lost on her. Saber was looking at her alarmed at her sudden change of demeanor.

"'snirk' well... we may be fighting... a group of Mages from...another planet." she couldn't hold it anymore but tried anyway, the result was her leaning over while uttering a low stream of odd sounding snickers that were quite unlike her. "Kr-kr-kr-kr-kr-kr-krkrkrkrkr!"

Saber had a very peculiar look on her face, like she was trying to puzzle out a joke that had gone over her head entirely.

Will looked at Rin blankly for a little before cracking a half smile. " Really."

"Rin, I'm afraid that I don't quite understand what you mean." Saber started.

Rin cut her off still laughing. "No... 'kmp'... don't worry about it." she said finally straightening up and beginning to compose herself. "I'm sure that the Organizer will explain everything when we get back. For now follow me I have something I have to show you. Follow me and stay quiet, I think my servants are asleep- I mean housekeepers- Are asleep at the moment." She turned to go.

"Wait Rin. Before we go about anything else there is something important we need to address. First, how much time do we have left?"

"About an hour and 35 minuets, why?"

"Good that should be enough time. You said that you had household servants?"

"Um yes I do but they would be asleep right now." Rin said not quite getting where Saber was going.

"Awaken them then, my Master and I would appreciate some dinner before we get further into business."

"Uha!, I had nearly forgotten that about you." She said smiling. "Fine but you needn't waken the servants, Archer is quite a good cook. Aren't you?" she said turning Archer who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded together and a half smirk on his face.

"Yes Master, I think I could whip something up for our guests."

Half an hour later there was a sizable Japanese style supper laid out in the dinning room. Saber, Will and Rin were siting in front of it while Archer stood of the the side sipping some of his own tea. It was quite a meal considering the short amount of time that had gone into it. Rin had already eaten that night before she went out but, Archers cooking being what it was she couldn't resist having a little more. Will who hadn't eaten as well as Rin that night, ate some but couldn't really appreciate it, being unfamiliar with Japanese food. Saber however set upon the meal with almost violent ardor, eating from one dish and then another at will. In about 5 minutes she demolished Archers handiwork, wiped her mouth with a napkin and put her chopsticks down. "It will have to do." she proclaimed.

Archer looked slightly offended at her critique. Will looked at her with his mouth open a little having stopped trying to eat about half way through the meal in order to watch her practically inhale a dish of noodles that caught her fancy. Rin was drawn back forcibly to a time when they had both sat together with Shirou for meals during the War.

"Well then if your satisfied lets get back to business."

Saber nodded. "Yes, I would like to ask what you know about any of the other participants, we were already attacked once by Rider and her Master."

"You were attacked?" Rin said sounding surprised. "When did this happen?"

"Last night, we had a rather close call actually." Will said.

"Hmm, well I don't know any other Masters but it's not unlikely that some of them are selfish or paranoid enough to try and kill another Master if they think that they can get away with it."

Will nodded Yes, I suppose that it isn't to surprising, especially considering that in the Grail Wars Servants main purpose was to fight each other."

"Will you report them?" Rin asked.

"No I don't think I will. That lady, Ms. Green was her name? She might have listened to us before but after Saber's little scuffle I don't really think she will be inclined to do much. She doesn't strike me as one who would go out of her way to punish someone who had attacked us after Saber told her off."

"Wait what happened?"

"Well, while we were waiting for you another Servant came in. Saber got in something of a argument with him and she and Ms Green ended up threatening to kill each other."

"What?" Rin said sharply. "Have you been making enemies out of the other Association representatives?"

"It is true that I fought briefly with another Servant in the church, after it ended the Magus attendant threatened my Master for my actions. I put her in her place."

"I thought you had more discretion than that Saber." Rin said mildly "That woman is in charge of the entire Crusade tactical effort, she could make things very difficult for you if you get on her bad side."

Will nodded. Yeah Saber, a lot of those Association Mages can be really underhand. If she was selected to lead the entire operation by the Association then she is probably a prime example of this."

Saber's grim expression did not changer "Be that as it may, I will not suffer her to use such threats against my charge."

Rin sighed "Fine then." She added under her breath: "This is going to be a rocky road."

"Alright, next: our enemy." She said changing gears "Well like I said I wont explain everything here, but our opponents are a very large organization of Maguses. We suspect that they are at least about 3 times the size of the Mages association and they have Magic and technology that far outstrips ours."

"Three times the size of the Mages association!" Will gasped. "Th-that's ridiculous! How could they exist without us knowing about them?"

"Most of their organization seems to operate from another dimension."

"Whhaaaa? Wait you were serious!" Will's eyes were practically bugging out. "That's... not good."

"No it's really not." Rin agreed. "For one we hardly know anything about them, what we do know is not exactly encouraging. For one they have almost definitely infiltrated some of the world governments." she hesitated a little debating whether or not to drop the bombshell yet. _Mmmm why not?_

"And they have spaceships." She added dropping it on his head.

Will reaction made him almost look like he really had just been hit in the head with a large metal canister . He sat there running his fingers through his hair repeatedly. Saber looked like she didn't know what to make of Rin's news. Unlike Will she hadn't grown up with sci-fi movies that trained one to consider such things ridiculous.

"So. We really are being invaded then?" Will said after a little.

"No, as far as we can tell they mostly ignore us, they haven't demonstrated much interest in earth up till this point. We think that this would change if they discovered the presence of magic users on earth, the Mages Associaton has gone through great lengths to hide our presence from them. This crusade will be our first major contact. We don't really know why they decided to make of with the Grail aside from the fact that they probably don't think that there is anyone strong enough to resist them."

"We will soon show them differently." Saber said grimly.

"Yes." Archer said. The others looked up at him, he had rarely spoken all that evening. "If they have taken the Grail so boldly then they must truly believe themselves to be unassailable, this may be founded on typical Magus arrogance or it could be that we are about to have the fight of our lives."

"However many Mages they have it will mater little." Rin said confidently "No one will be able to stand against all of us. It is the other Servants who worry me more, The Grail supervisor may be able to keep them in line for a while but I know that it will come down to another Servant vs Servant battle in the end. There are just to many natural enemy's among you."

Will thought back to when Saber had attacked the strange Caster on sight, and when Rider had attacked them seemingly unprovoked. Suddenly the prospect of having to fight the other Servants for real seemed a lot more plausible. But surly the Association has thought of that?" He offered. "Besides with that organizer lady having leverage over the Master's, they'll all obey her. No one will start a fight with the other Servants when she has the power to send all the Servants after anyone she likes. The only way for her to loose her position is if all the Masters stopped listening to her at once."

"Indeed." Archer said gravely "If the Organizer plays it right she could very well become the most powerful person in the Crusade, after that the Mages association would be only a short step away. We must beware her."

Rin nodded in silent affirmation _Typical _she thought _The strongest person in the crusade is the politician._

"So what are we going to do about her?" Will asked. While he wasn't radically Anti-authoritarian, Will didn't like the Association and found the idea of being watched and ordered around by Samantha Green, the woman who could apparently change from overly sweet to a shrieking harpy at will to be unbearable.

"Nothing, there's nothing **to **do. Right now we need her to keep the Crusade together and stop it from degenerating into a free for all. Later when the TSAB is taken care of we will think about her." Rin said. She looked up at the clock, two hours were almost up. "Come on, we need to get back but before we do there is something I need to show you" she said to Saber.

They followed Rin out of the dinning room into one of the passageways, from there they followed her deeper into the enormous house until they came to a small library. Rin walked over to one of the bookshelves, removed a book and pressed a small button concealed behind it. The bookshelf slid away revealing stairs going down.

Will who had been busy admiring the nice decor whistled "Sweet! A real hidden bookcase passage. That's the most cliched thing I've seen all day, its also the first place anyone would look if they were trying to find anything."

Rin rolled her eyes "Is that so, I guess I'm just outdated." _Idiot, there are spells here that will prevent anyone but me from ever seeing the button._

They continued down the stairs, Rin going first followed by Saber. Will came after with Archer bringing up the rear. The stairs went down and down passing several other side doors that looked to lead to other chambers or workshops. Finally they reached the bottom which ended in a stout wooden door with 2 keyholes one gold the other plain. Rin pulled out a small golden key and stuck it into the plain keyhole. The door swung open. The four of them stepped into a small room set with various chests, a bookshelf and a long riveted trunk in the corner.

Although the room was small and undecorated Will sensed immediately that this room was very special, a storage place for rare and powerful magic. It reminded him of when he had first discovered magic in an old Maguses basement and it triggered something like a kleptomaniactic fascination inside him. He would definitely not mind seeing what was in some of those trunks or acquiring their contents, and were the circumstances any different he would probably have started planing on how to get back down here when Rin was gone.

Rin walked over to the long trunk on the floor and knelt down to undo the clasps. "Shirou never forgot you after you were gone Saber. Although he became a hero and something of a freedom fighter after the War I don't think that you ever really strayed far from his thought's."

Will raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"He spent quite a bit of time abroad in later years, as did I. But while I was working for and rising in the ranks of the Association he was always out on some self appointed quest or another."

"Saber smiled "Yes that does not surprise me, it is good to hear that he was able to live his dream even if only for a few years."

"Unsurprisingly" Rin continued "He also develop something of a obsession with you. I have no idea where he found it." she said throwing back the lid.

Saber frowned at her last mysterious comment and looked inside the box. She gasped.

"So it is yours then. Or at least you recognize it."

Inside the long trunk was the petrified and broken remains of a spear. A spear that Saber knew well. "Incredible" she said breathlessly. She leaned over the chest to look at it more closely. Will hurried over and looked in as well before snorting in disappointment, much to Saber and Rin's annoyance. In a way though Saber could not blame him. The spear was in horrible condition.

The spear had been shattered and lay in three pieces inside the box. Before it had properly petrified the wood had been worm eaten and corroded. The spearhead which was once ornate and well forged was now a rusted ruined hunk of dull metal that barley resembled a blade anymore. From the side of the top shard still protruded two small mettle rings from which hung two filthy stiff shreds of rags.

"Its not much to see anymore but Shirou apparently went through a great deal to find it. He always insisted that it once belonged to you. He treasured it. When he disappeared I took it into safekeeping for him, and it seems it's yours again."

Saber continued to look at it astonished. _Incredible, I have dreamed of holding it again so many times, but I never imagined that I would ever see it again. Strange, it seems that the more I come back the more of my old treasures I recover."_

Saber bent down and picked it up reverently. It still held together in her hands. A fire had kindled itself in her eyes, and she looked down on it with astonishing intensity. "Yes." She said in a faraway but powerful voice "This I do indeed recognize, Rin. For it was indeed mine. With it I struck down the arch traitor Mordred." Her voice rose to a thunderous shout "My old spear **Rhongomyniad!**"

As Saber said the name a change came over the ruined spear, it began to glow, first softly and then strongly, a fierce white light mixed with veins of red and green. The pieces that were still in the box suddenly floated up into Saber waiting hands which were now positioned as if holding a full spear upward to heaven. The entire length of the spear shone and shook as if rejoicing to be reunited with its old Master. When the light faded Saber **was** holding a full spear.

It was completely changed, renewed to its old glory by Sabers presence and biding. It stood around 7 and ½ feet tall, with a strong strait wooden shaft stained grey in color and a wooden hand guard like the kind used for jousting. It ended in a silver head narrow and bitter unlike Lancers barbed longspear. From the top just below the head flew a long white triangular banner affixed to the spear by the two previously rusted rings that now gleamed polished bronze. In the center of the banner was emblazoned the image of a great Red Dragon, claws outstretched, mouth agape.

Will, Rin and Archer watched with wide eyes as Saber smiled proudly up at it and then set the butt to the floor with a clank. (The butt was caped with a simple steel sheath).

"Whoa ho ho! Did you just?" Will managed before leaving the question open.

"It seems that my Spear remembers me as well." Saber said boldly. Looking at it seemed to invigorate her for she suddenly wielded around and made for the door her eyes flashing. "Come my Master! Come my friend's! We have a Crusade to wage!" Saber's smile was no longer soft, it was the proud smile of a conquering King. She strode up the stairs taking the steps two at a time despite her petite frame. "Whoever our foes are and whatever planet they come from they will soon come to know my battle standard!"

Rin, Archer and Will scrambled to keep up, unsure as to what this new development meant.

*Scene *

Sabers rather unnerving fierceness lasted all the way out to the car. After struggling to get the just-to-long spear into the car for a little Saber managed to angle it in through the window. It was just short enough to barely fit in the car if laid longways in the small gap between the front and back seats. Positioned awkwardly inside the car, it threatened to go through the windshield if there was a sudden jolt. Rin inquired several times whether or not Saber could just astralize it.

"What? And hide Rhongomyniad's fair form so soon after our reunion? I think not!"

"Come on Saber" Will broke in " If you don't dematerialize it the other Servants will see it and have that against us."

"Let them see it! For Rhongomyniad is a Noble Phantasm meant to be seen. My glorious war banner that inspires valor upon mine allies and dread unto mine enemies!" Saber barked back, her voice had changed subtly but noticeably. Before it had been hard and cold but still feminine and refined somehow, now her voice was a deep rich fiery tone, one that would be used to command troops before or during a battle.

Will's eyebrow twitched, as did Rin's. Even the normally stoic Archer was looking at Saber slightly alarmed.

"Look Saber that's great, but uh... it barley fits in the car and I don't really want to be impaled if we get in an accident. Also you are acting really weird, I know you are happy to get your spear back but could you tone it down a little? "

At first Saber looked offended. She opened her mouth as if to say something and then closed it again. Her face fell back to it's normal cold expression as did her voice. "I see, I am sorry if I became overzealous Master." The spear disappeared in a whitish glow and she climbed into the back of the car looking rather deflated.

As they drove back to the church Will looked back over his shoulder. Saber was siting in the back now smiling her soft smile apparently having recovered from her disappointment at the absence of her new weapon. "So what was that? Why did the spear reform itself when you touched it?"

"Rhongomyniad was my lance of old." Saber responded "When I called its name it answered its old Master. That is all that I can say as to why it happened. That is all there is to say."

"So does that mean you have a new Noble Phantasm?" Rin asked from the drivers seat.

"Yes, though it was already part of my legend so it was more like regaining one. Rhongomyniadwould be a Phantasm capable of both support and combat. Like I said it's banner give's hope to my allies and robs my enemies of it, though it is of limited use against those of strong will. In a fight though it is primarily a jousting spear best used from horseback, I will have little use for it on the ground. Unless I can gain a horse." Saber looked thoughtful. While she was swordsman, Saber was still a knight and her skill on horseback was nothing to laugh at. Indeed she sometimes missed horses greatly, she had seen none since she became a Heroic Spirit.

"Probably not where we are going" said Rin.

As they drove on a thought entered Will's head _Hold on,she said that she killed Mordred... Didn't... Uha? _He pushed it out of his head and thought of other things.

They pulled up to the church and piled out. Walking back up the steps Rinknocked twice on the doors. Samantha answered it again. "Good to see you made it back in time, nearly all the Masters are here. If you are done with your private planing session then come on in." She said nastily.

They walked back in and made for their original place in the forward section of the pews together. Suddenly Archer and Rin froze. In over by the stained glass window where Lancer and Bazett had taken residence was a woman clad in a white and black maid outfit. She was tall and very well endowed with red eyes and an enormous halberd slung casually over her shoulder. She was chatting quite animatedly with Lancer who was leaning on his spear and looking quite pleased with his current company.

Saber saw her and stiffened as well.

Rin gasped out "Then that must mean..." she suddenly ran forward through the church to where Will and Saber had previously been seated, Archer close behind.

"Come Master." Saber said as she to ran forward. Not knowing what was going on but sensing his companions urgency Will moved to keep up.

Rin ran forward all the way to the end of the pew line, she could already see the white heads of to figures seated at the end in Will and Saber previous spot but she couldn't believe it, not till she saw it...

She turned the corner and got a her first good look at the two. She stood there trembling slightly gazing in disbelief at the pair that were siting serenely on the church pew.

The first was a woman almost identical to the one before but unarmed and witha few noticeable differences. Her chest was less exaggerated and she bore herself with the quiet dignity of an esteemed lady. Rin however, barely noticed her, her attention fixed on the woman's smaller companion.

Next to the woman sat a familiar white hared girl in a purple and white dress swinging her legs off the edge of the pew and looking back at Rin curiously. She had a pail heart shaped face and enormous soft red eyes with long snow white hair that fell down past her shoulders to her back. Illyasviel von Einzbern was looking up at Rin from the pew.

Rin simply stared at her, she could feel herself shaking. _It's impossible! She's dead, she's been dead for years!._

"Hey lady you look kind of sick, are you okay?" Illya chimed in.

"I-Illya! You.. your..." Rin gasped out, she could feel blood draining from her head.

"Ehn? Illya?" The girl looked quizzical "My name is Mahail." she said with a tone of defensiveness.

"Wh-what?" Rin said not quite grasping what the girl had just said.

Your pretty slow lady, I hope that your Servant is brighter than you or you wont live very long. She said giggling.

Archer who was standing right behind her and had also been staring snapped out of it. Pushing Rin of to the side he said "The name Illya means nothing to you?" Although Archer was obviously shaken himself his voice was steady, only his eyes betrayed his surprise.

The girls eyes narrowed "My cousin? What of her?"

Archer took a little to respond but his voice was steady "I am sorry, it seems that my Master mistook you for someone else. However if you don't mind could you tell us a little about your relation to your cousin.?"

The woman siting next to her leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Illya's doppelganger frowned and then turned back towards them. "I see, if that's the way it is then I don't want to talk to you anymore" she said with an upturned nose. "You should be glad that I'm not allowed to kill you...yet. My Servant is not nice like me." A dangerous gleam that Rin and Archer knew well had entered her eye.

Archer bowed "Very well then, I suppose we will take our leave Miss Mahail." He turned and gently pulled Rin away as quickly as was polite. Saber and Will followed. The two of them had followed the conversation with confusion. For Will, who had no idea who Illyasviel was, the conversation had gone entirely over his head. Saber who knew Illya was surprised but not shocked like Rin.

Archer herded a rather disorientated Rin back down the row of pews towards the door and out of the Not-Illya's earshot. Rin was shaking and biting her finger. Archer sat her down softly on one of the pews.

"She died. She **died **Archer! One year after the War!"

"Rin pull yourself together." Archer said harshly. Rin nodded quickly and stopped biting her finger though she continued to look slightingly shell shocked. Saber looked at her carefully, concern etched on her face.

"That was not Illya, Rin." Archer said slowly.

"No that was her. It was definitely her! She was exactly the same. Exactly! She looked the same, she acted the same. She even dressed the same!" Rin insisted her voice bordering on panic.

"Rin, Illya died. A homunculus cannot become undead and other means of resurrection would be nigh impossible. You heard her, she called herself Mahail. Whoever she is she is a copy, or a clone at the most."

Rin said nothing for a while breathing deeply. Finally she spoke up "Yes, you are right Archer, I'm sorry, I was being silly." she looked back at Illya's double (or Mahail as we must now call her). _There's_ _something I will have to discover, before this is over. No mater what. I __**will**_ _find out who she really is _she swore to herself.

"Archer, her Servant is Berserker again isn't it?" She said, the question rhetorical.

Archer frowned at her "No, we have no way of knowing that Rin. Don't let her appearance mislead you into baseless conclusions."

Rin didn't take her eye's of the back of Mahail head. She gazed at the long white tresses thinking. "No" she said slowly "Her servant is Berserker. Why else would she keep him astralized here?"

Inside Archer agreed with her.

Will looked between the two of them. He had stayed out of the conversation, although he was confused he sensed quite a bit of history in the odd exchange and had resolved to ask about it later.

They retreated together as a group to another vacant space in the church pew's sufficiently spaced away from the other Servants. At first Will had wanted to separate and go their own ways with their Servants, Archer had supported this but Rin wouldn't hear of it and Saber agreed with her. In the end the two girls had won out. They were all siting now except Saber who still insisted on standing to remain alert.

Will looked at his watch, it was almost the deadline for arriving, they would be moving out in a few minutes. Sure enough only a few minuets later the door opened and the robed figure of Harry Fergun, the Church representative appeared. He surveyed the rather strange group that was gathered in the Church and then turned to whisper to Samantha. After conversing quietly for a little she left her ever-present position at the door and walked down the aisles, Fergon just behind her. They walked down the length of the Church and stood in front of the alter. Seeing this the other Servant/Master teams who were not near the alter already began to gather around it.

The different groups eyed each other with distrust, wary about being in such close contact for the first time. Bluebeard in particular positioned himself as far from Saber as possible. Others like Mahail and Lancer stood boldly in the center. The old man in the black kimono had also joined the group, though he stayed in the back of the small crowd and received several suspicious and disgusted looks from several of the Servants as the sensed his foul presence.

Samantha Green stood in front of the group and looked it over with a wide, overly cheerful smile. She looked like she was about to announce the opening of an amusement park rather than declare the start of a perilous quest.

"Well" she said beaming at them like a parent to a young child "I am glad to see so many participants ready to undertake this Crusade. As you all know the Grail has been stolen by an outside organization, and the Grail has summoned you all here to retrieve it. As usual since the 3rd War the Mages Association has stepped in to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Because this is a Crusade rather than a Grail War there is no need for Servants or Master to fight each other, anyone (she cast a sharp glance at Will and Saber) who is caught fighting in the future will be **severely** penalized."

Although the crowd was still silent, Rin could tell that it was far from at ease. Lancer was looking at the woman like he couldn't believe his ears. Other reactions were similar.

Samantha continued on, apparently oblivious to all this. "As the crusade Organizer I will be in charge of the group as a whole and direct our efforts against the enemy. Our enemy th-"

Without warning Church doors flew open suddenly with a 'CRASH!' cutting the speaker off mid sentence and making the rooms occupants turn quickly towards the door.

"I'm sorry it seems that I am late to my own party!" Rang out a high arrogant voice. There, silhouetted in the door stood a familiar man. He was tall, very blond with red penitrating eyes visible even from a distance. He was dressed immaculately in an expensive looking white fur coat with black pants. His hands corssed conphortable over his chest he stood in the open doorway gazing down at them, his presense seeming to fill the room as he stood there.

"Gilgamesh.." Rin breathed, her hand's tightened into fists.

Saber stiffened, her eyes flashing at the sight of her old foe as she felt her heartbeat quicken. She griped the hilt of her sword while Archer shifted his feet slightly into an subtle fighting stance. The other Servants looked surprised, but no one else showed any sign of recognizing him save maybe for the old man who let out the barest hint of a raspy chuckle.

Lancer however made no move, simply raising his eyebrows. "Who's this daisy?"

The blond Servant stood in the doorway for a little before striding into the room boldly, a self-superior smile on his face. A few steps behind him a black haired young man who looked about 19 followed. He was short and dressed nicely but casually in an orange sweater vest.

Gilgamesh walked up to the Alter stopping only a few feet short of Samantha who was looking at him a little unnerved. "My apologies, you were saying something before I arrived? You have my permission to continue."

Samatha put on her cheery smile again (It didn't quite mach his) "Oh yes, yes I was. I'm sorry I wasn't expecting you may I inquire as to your class?"

"I am Gilgamesh!" he proclaimed loudly with his arms folded over his chest. "And Gilgamesh means Me!"

Samantha looked surprised and a little put out, both at his open declaration of his name and his manner. The other Servants began to murmur and Samantha looked around like she was afraid that she was loosing control of the group. "Well Mr Gilgamesh, thank you for your dramatic introduction, now why don't you step back a little?"

Gilgamesh's smile widened and he took a few steps back from her. Samantha looked like she was about to ask him to step back further but didn't, unnerved by his rather intense stare he was leveling at her.

"Well as I was saying, Our enemy is an organization of Maguses that call's itself the TSAB. The Association has been aware of their existence for some time now, however we still know only a little about them. They appear to be much larger than any other organization of Mages ever formed." Many of the Masters looked skeptical at this news, and began whispering among themselves.

Samantha Green continued speaking ignoring the confused and alarmed looks she was getting. "They also have accesses to many more technological advancements than us including advanced computers and spacecraft." There were a few murmurs and even laughs at this but she ignored them "This isn't what makes them dangerous however. As far as the Mages Association has been able to tell, this Organization operates many from..." She paused a little here before going on. "a separate dimension from our own."

There was was a second of stunned silence before the room broke out into a myriad of different reactions, from confused to alarmed.

Riders Master broke out laughing, in sharp contrast Rider stood there looking like someone had just mentioned the time of day. The man who Rin took to be Gilgamshe's Master looked quite astonished. Bazett's eyes widened "do you mean to say that an entire organization is using Kaleidoscope to enter our plane?" she asked. Her question was lost among the many other voices all speaking at once though and only Rin heard it.

Meanwhile Lancer stood holding his chin in his hand looking thoughtful. In fact most of the Servants did not seem to find the idea half as absurd as many of the Masters did, Caster merely had her head tilted to one side as if thinking deeply. Bluebeard looked quite surprised "Do you mean to say that this coven originates from a different celestial sphere than ours?" he asked his voice curious. Other voices drowned that out as well, swallowing the question in the din.

Samantha frowned, she couldn't continue like this. "That will do, quiet down." she said raising her voice over the crowd. They took no notice of her. "Silence!" she yelled, to no avail.

"Enough!" Gilgamesh shouted. The crowd silenced immediately. It was was a deep command full of unspoken authority and more than just an ordinary shout, Gilgamesh's voice had carried in it something that demanded obedience and would have cracked the windows had he used more.

He turned to Samantha who was holding her hands over her ears, she wasn't the only one, many of the Masters, especially the ones closer to the Alter were doing the same.

"You may continue lady." he said in a voice dripping with smugness.

Samantha nodded at him, inside she was no longer comfortable with him, not at all. _That Servant's trouble. _She thought to herself. _He's the sort who will try and take over my position, I will need to deal with him quickly. Maybe if I can get to his Master I can get him to realize who is in charge here. _

"Thank you Servant, **you **may take a few more steps back if you please."

"Oh?" Said Gilgamesh, his voice suddenly possessing an edge of danger. There was a tense moment in which the two stared at each other for a few seconds before Gil politely took a few more small steps backwards, placing him in the edge of the crowd proper.

"As I was saying," Samantha continued "This organization of Maguses operates mostly from another dimension, through means we do not know. We presume that they have used this power and technology to obtain the Grail for their own ends. Obviously the Grail has not stood for this. In order to aid the you in this quest that you have been chosen for, the Mages Association, with the help of the Grail has prepared a method of transportation to bring you to this Organization to begin the Crusade."

Samantha took a small opaque multicolored orb from her pocket. It gleamed and shimmered as it caught the moonlight coming through the window. The crowd looked at it curiously, even Rider seemed curious about it.

"This artifact was uncovered by Association Mages after the Voice of the Grail directed us to it, we believe it to be a functioning Kaleidoscope artifact."

There were more than a few gasps from around the room including one from Will and Rin. "Incredible" said Casters Master, the older man in blue speaking for the first time. "Surely a discovery of this magnitude should not be used so rashly, shouldn't the Crusade be postponed till after we study this marvel?"

"The Mages Association has taken that position into consideration and decided against it, groundbreaking though this Artifact may be our first priority is to retrieve the Grail before the TSAB damages it or worse, unlocks its power for their own use." Samantha replied.

Caster Master nodded "True, true. But how do we know that this will lead us to our enemy?"

"The Grail gave us coordinates and several Mages were able to align it to them, we have tested it and we are now confidant that this will take us where we want to go. We have fixed it to return to this place upon its second usage. One round trip to be used upon our recovery of the Grail." She paused as if to take questions. There were none. She smiled again and continued.

"Now before we go, I must make a few things clear, Because of the unknown nature of our enemy we will not be engaging them immediately, but will instead observe them and gather information until we are sure of how to proceed. When I am satisfied I will give the order and you may then attack as I direct you. All Servants and Masters will report directly to me during the course of the Crusade to receive orders."

There was a murmur of anger from some of the Servants at this. "What! That's outrageous!" yelled Lancer.

Samantha's face instantly twisted into a snarl " As the Association Representative it is my **duty **to ensure that this operation runs smoothly! If you have an objection to it then-"

"So what you are saying" Gilgamesh interrupted "is that while we operate as your little personal army, you take command and order us about as you wish."

"Not at all" Samantha said defensively "You will each be able to deal with whatever situation I send you to as you please, and of course ultimately it is still the Masters who will decide the course of the Crusade. I am merely an necessary overseer to prevent the Crusade from falling to infighting. As soon as we understand the enemy enough to- HURK!"

Samantha Green froze her arms suddenly flailing a little, at the word 'enough' Gilgamesh had snapped his fingers. A ornate steel longsword was protruding hilt first from Samantha Greens mouth and coming out the back of her head covered with blood. For a split second a look of surprise flickered across her features before she fell backwards onto the Alter knocking over the candles and sending a bowl to the floor with a clatter.

The Room erupted into confusion, Servants and Masters all backed up away from each other shouting, Saber drew her sword and Archer summoned his twin Dao swords Kanshou and Bakuya, Lancer was holding his lance up in striking position while Bazett jumped into a fighting stance . All the Masters and Servants were facing each other, sure enough the hulking form of Beserker appeared and was sheltering Mahail with his body, growling. Caster and her Master had retreated the farthest and were now both holding out their hands ready to cast spells, the man in the black leather trench coat had pulled out two automatics and was pointing them at Gigamesh. In front of the old man a hunched figure in a black skull-like mask was crouching his hands full of knives.

Gilgamesh stayed where he was smiling wickedly.

After a few seconds the shouting stopped, the Masters and servants stood there regarding each other and Gilgamesh. No one lowered their weapons.

"Murderer!" Saber shouted at Gilgamesh. "How dare you strike down someone while they are defenseless! And the Crusade Organizer no less!"

"Saber my dearest." He said smiling at her.

Saber was suddenly hit by a realization. Gilgamesh remembered everything, she could see it from the way he looked at her, not indifferently like usual but with intense interest and familiarity.

"Why do you protest? If I didn't kill her someone else would have, do you seriously believe that she would have survived the night while saying such things to a room full of Heroic Spirits? Her only desire was to command the Crusade and perhaps gain the Grail herself. She was a fool, and a arrogant fool at that, she sought to command legends when she wasn't even a Master, for such arrogance she has earned death."

No one spoke, part of Saber knew that what Gilgamesh said was the truth, The woman had drastically overestimated the amount of control she had over the group and it was unlikely that the other Servants would have tolerated her more than a few days.

Gilgamesh looked around the room "Well its good to see that some of our more shy Servants have decided to join us." he said nodding to Beserker and the Black clad Assassin Servant. "Or perhaps cowardly would be a better term."

Mahail hissed "Cowardly! My Servant would tear you to pieces if I wanted him to Mister."

"We may find that out soon enough little girl" He replied smoothly. "For now listen to me." He walked over to Samantha Green's corpse, put one foot her head, pulled the sword out and wiped the blood off on her shirt.

"This wretched shrew of a woman would have had us catering to the will of the Mages Association and running them errands like a pack of familiars. She would have had us approach this TSAB like a gutless thief, trying to take back what he thinks is his from a stronger Lord. We are not, and however powerful this TSAB is they are nothing to us. How can mere human Mages stand against an army of Legends? We are more that any soothsayer can fight, and when we go against this pathetic conglomerate of pirates who dared the wrath of the Grail we will take what we want and crush whoever get's in our way. "

Caster broke out clapping "Well said Milord" she called out speaking for the first time. Her voice was like a bell, silvery and musical and pleasing to the ear. It was a voice that would cause most men to stop and listen just for the sake of hearing it. It was a voice that was cut off mercilessly and abruptly by the very man she was praising.

"Silence witch!" Gilgamesh snapped pointing at her without even looking her way. "I remember your cowardly craft from the last war even if you don't yourself. Keep your tongue on a short leash in my presence or I will send you back to the Throne of Heroes before you even get to look for the Grail."

Will heard Caster let out a slight choking noise before falling silent. If any of the others could have seen through her hood however they would have seen her go from slack jawed shock to shaking furry.

Gilgamesh looked around the room, none offered anything further. "Well then Priest." he said addressing Fergon for the first time. "It seems we are ready to depart, you can have her job." he nodded to Samanthas dead body.

Fergon drew himself up, he was rather white in the face, and walked over to the Alter, bending over her pulled the Kaleidoscope orb out of Samantha's cooling hand.

Lancer laughed "Well Mr" he said looking at Gilgamesh with a amused expresion "you might be a arrogant fool yourself, but you have some things right at least. Is it every man for himself then?"

"It is indeed my blue Irish dog." Gil replied smoothly.

Lancer jolted at that and then griped his spear tightly, his face changing from a laugh to a look of rage.

Gilgamesh ignored him "From here on out work with who you will and kill who you want, that is how Heroic Spirits go to war!" he looked over at Fergon who was holding the orb "Take us there man."

Fergon nodded "alright then, we are all here, if everyone could gather around then we will depart."

The group of Masters and Seravants murmured acknowledgment, putting aside their distrust they lowered their weapons and gathered close around the Alter where the Priest stood.

Saber sheathed her Sword and stepped forward with the others, it had come to a free for all faster than even Rin had anticipated. She looked over at Gilgamesh as they crowded together, he had looking right at her witha rather soft expression that both chilled her blood and angered her, it seemed that she was far from free of the golden Archer servant.

Will felt a twinge of excitement as he crowded around the Priest with the others, the death of the Association Mage had caught him of guard and even now worried him but at the same time he could not contain his excitement. _I'm going to another world! I cant believe it, I wonder what it will be like? Man its the beginning of the journey that always excites me. I hope we don't get killed by the other Servants as soon as we come out, that would be a downer. _He rambled on to himself inside his head as the Priest held the orb aloft looking nervous. Then he closed his eye's.

The orb began to glow a blinding multicolored light, some of the Masters shielded there eye's. The old man who was apparently Assassins Master cried out in discomfort. Then there was a very odd sound like chimes and metal being torn that hurt the ears and bored into ones head. Then there was a small undramatic 'pop' and they were gone.

The Church stood empty, pews were moved or overturned and against the alter lay the body of Samantha Green with a raged hole through the back of her head seeping blood out onto the floor.

The Church stood silent like that for an hour and a half, perfectly still. Then the door cracked open. A girl stuck her head through the door and glanced around. "Um.. hello. Anybody?" The girl opened the door further and took a few tentative steps in. She was short, with light blond hair. She looked about 16. "Um... I'm here for the Grail Crusade, is anybody here? Hello?"

"It seems we are to late" came a deep voice. The other door opened and in stepped a huge figure clad from head to toe in full plate armor. The man stood almost 7 feet tall, his armor was dark and his face was concealed by a mask like helmet from which sprouted a tail of horse hair died blue.

"Ehhhhh! They left without us! I cant believe it!"

"Worry not Mistress, we will find a way to join the Crusade with or without these paltry wizards."

"But how?" She said looking up at the figure that towered over her.

Have patience Mistress and surely a way will be reviled unto us." With that he strode over and sat down in the middle of the room.

The girl gaped at him "That's your plan? Wait here until something happens?"

"Peace maiden, I am thinking of a way to overcome our predicament."

The girl watched him for a little before siting down on one of the vacant pew's "I cant believe we came all the way to Japan and then missed the Crusade." she muttered.

Authors notes:

For those who don't know Kaleidoscope is a true Magic that allows for travel in between universes, it is a almost lost art hence their astonishment at the orb.

For the record its Rin's estement of the TSAB being 3 times the size of the Mages association is obviously completely inaccurate. They are more like 600 times the size of the Mages association, maybe more.

Will is about to find out that the TSAB is not quite a "charity organization".

And yes Lancer hair is Red. **RED.** His hair is not blue, it was never blue. In fate stay night the reason his hair is blue is because he accidentally fell head first into a bucket of fast drying blue hair dye and then never found the time to wash it out properly. That is what happened. Now that he had been re summoned his hair is orange red like people in Ireland really have. Yes.

Other people still have their weird hair color because its an anime and because it doesn't look gay on them the way it does on Lancer.

Okay people lets get some reviews, and I wouldn't mind a few for my earlier chapters as well, some barely got analyzed at all. Except for you NoblessOblige and AngelForm, you guys are cool.


	6. Chapter 6 Incident Start

Sub chapter: Dickering with Despots

Chrono Harlaown walked briskly down the halls of the embassy side by side with Lenis Milano who was talking quickly as they hurried along.

"I yi yi if we are late to this it could kick the entire meeting off to a bad start. I know some people are really up tight about things like this, especially when relations are already shaky."

"Don't worry about it." Chrono replied coolly. "If we make him wait then we will send the message that we don't play by his rules. He's on Mid now."

The plump ambassador gave him a look of horror. "Are you joking? Are you **trying** to aggravate him? Relations between his country and the TSAB have been a nightmare for years! This could be our big opportunity, the chance to turn things around!"

"Turn things around? Mr. Milano this guy is a complete tyrant, he is here to dangle an empty hope of better relations with Orussia in the future in exchange for some favor from us now. David Perth has been fighting tooth and nail to keep the TSAB out of his little dictatorship for the last 20 years, there is no way he is going to suddenly open up now."

Lenis shot Chrono a disparaging look. "Admiral I though better of you! Its attitudes like that that prevent relations with this man from going anywhere. If it weren't for your fleet hounding his people day and night we might be providing relief aid to his people instead of wrangling with them."

They turned a corner and continued down the hall, at the end they could see a set of double doors. Both men were in full uniform, Chrono's Blue spiked barrier jacket in sharp contrast to Lenise's ambassador outfit that consisted of a simple white dress coat with a blue sash. Behind them walked three other four other men, two in ambassador uniforms like Lenis and the other two wearing the brown of the armed forces.

"His privateers you mean." Chrono shot back. His annoyance with Lenis growing. The man was a competent diplomat and he had no real fear that he would do anything stupid, but Lenis and indeed many politicians seemed to have a very strange attitude towards the Republic of Orussia. They seemed to think that the problem stemmed from a lack of communications with the Orussian government. Chrono had been spent almost a year paroling that area of space and he knew the truth could not have been farther off.

The two entered through the double doors at the end of the hall. Inside was a very nice conference room with a circle of high backed seats in the middle. Many paintings adorned the walls and colorful live plants grew from pots of earth. Standing in the middle of the room waiting for them were three men.

On one side was a man in nice looking business suit, on the other was a man in a formidable yellow barrier jacket. Standing in between them was a refined looking gentleman wearing an opulent green uniform bedecked with medals. He looked to be in his upper 40s with graying hair, his face was soft and his light brown eyes were very kind looking, were it not for his uniform and a faint scar that ran across his cheek he would have had the look of a loving grandfather.

"Greeting's Ambassador, and Admiral Chrono" he said warmly nodding to each of them in turn. "I have had the pleasure of meeting you before, even if it was only over a telescreen."

"Governor Perth" Lenis said engaging the man in a formal handshake. "I am glad that you have agreed to these talk's, mayhaps with some time and understanding we can put our nations troubled history far behind us. For now though how do you find Cranagan?"

"I find it very well thank you, it is a wondrous city that you have here. When this unfortunate atmosphere of hostility passes I hope that we can build something resembling it on Orussia. Pleas, let us sit." He said holding out his hand towards the tall backed chairs. The man in the yellow barrier jacket pulled a chair for Lenis forward while David Perth seated himself. The others did the same till everyone was seated in a circle facing each other. A secretary brought in a cart of refreshments and David haply accepted a cup of coffee with cream while Lenis and David's partner in the business suit took tea.

"Midian hospitality is excellent as always Mr. Milano, I hope that this is a sign of prosperity in the TSAB these days, heaven knows where the world would be without your organization to.. ah... police things." David said sounding very sincere.

"Ah yes Mr. Perth" Chrono broke in. He knew what was coming if he let this go on. An hour or so of pleasantries before addressed the issues at hand, Chrono had seen it happen before and by the end of it David Perth had almost always managed to use it to cast himself in a favorable light."I am glad that you find it so and I assure you that the TSAB is doing quite well, it is about that, that we are meeting however."

"Straight to business hmm? How boorish." Perth said looking only minority annoyed. "Very well" he sighed "Over the last few decades Orussia's relationship with the TSAB has been poor to say the least, I am here to hopefully change some of that. I am willing to discuss the surrender of several stockpiles of mass weapons as well as divulging the whereabouts of several dangerous criminal organizations that have taken refuge on Orussia."

Lenis looked polity pleased "Well I must say that is wonderful Mr. Perth, you would do all this? For what would you ask for in return?"

"Oh well, I will have to see about that, in truth though I am hoping that this is only the beginning of our reconciliation. As a token of good will I am also willing to allow a TSAB inspection team into Orussia, though of course I only really control about half the planet so they will not be able to go into some of the places that you have been wanting to."

Lenis smiled and held up his hands "That's fine, any access to your country is a privilege for us."

"Yes, now though in return I am... wanting something."

Lenis kept smiling "Go ahead Mr. Perth and if it is within reason I will see if I can grant it."

_Oh no here we go_ Chrono sighed inwardly.

"Before we begin to agree to any of those other things I think that a small exchange is in order, I have declared mine, allowing an inspection team into my county, now I would request of you a token of good will."

Lenis nodded

"I think that you have one of my citizens."

Lenis frowned for the first time "Hm? I'm afraid that I don't quite know what you mean."

"It has come to my attention that you have a certain Runessa Magnus incarcerated, for various crimes against your people, I want her back."

Lenis looked slightly confused "R-Runessa Magnus?" he scratched his head a little " I'm afraid that she is a type A criminal guilty of Serial Murder, I am also quite confidant that she is a citizen of Mid- Childa and a previous enforcer of the TSAB, she has no connection with Orussia."

Perth chuckled good naturedly "I am sorry to contradict you but Ms. Runessa was a Citizen of Orussia before she was abducted from our planet by your operatives and brainwashed by your education system."

"By our relief team you mean!" Chrono broke in. His hands had tightened into fists, he didn't know where Perth was going with this but the accusations angered him none the less. "And why should you want her back, unless I am mistaken she fought **against** your people."

Perth tuned toward Chrono "That she was a rebel is no business of yours." he said with a hint of hardness in his voice for the first time. "The southern civil war has shifted since she left Orussia, her people now march under my banner, that makes her my charge."

Lenis paused for a little, thinking, before he replied "Even if she was a citizen of a faction that now owes it's loyalty to you, that makes little difference. She became a Midian Citizen and then committed crimes against her nation. Whatever claim you once had to her she is now under the jurisdiction of the TSAB."

"Indeed." Perth said "And that is why I want her as a token of good will, give her back to her people, they will be her judge rather than her spending the rest of her life rotting in a foreign prison. What's more this is the price I demand for our negotiations."

_So much for token of good will_ Thought Chrono.

Lenis said nothing for a while just looking at David Perth who was now sipping his tea quietly.

"We will consider this" Lens said "Gentlemen if you will excuse us."

"Certainly."

The Midian diplomats stood up and left the room with Chrono, leaving David Perth and his men siting there.

Once outside they gathered into a smaller waiting room nearby and ordered the secretary who had brought them tea out. Clustering together in a circle they began to converse in whispers.

"This is outrageous" said one of the men in an Armed forces uniform "He can't just walk in here and request the release of a dangerous criminal!"

"Are you kidding?" Said one of the ambassadors, "This is a wonderful opportunity! The chance to open negotiations with Orussia for the cost of one criminal! We would be mad not to accept."

Chrono broke in "No, he won't follow through with the negotiations, he just want's to milk us for as many favors as he can with the promise of political progress. He will dump us once he gets what he wants. He has done it before."

Lenis looked up at Chrono "Admiral you are overreacting, he can't have traveled all the way from Orussia personally just to get one criminal."

Chrono said nothing chewing the inside of his cheek slightly.

"Now" Lenis continued "As for his demanding a criminal from us, there is a little legitimacy to his claims."

The officer in the TSAB Arms uniform snorted angrily, inside Chrono agreed with him.

Lenis continued despite the interruption. "If we give him Runessa we could open up a whole new opportunity for diplomacy with the Orussians, we could end years of conflict, as far as I am concerned it is our duty to the TSAB and mankind to give him the criminal if that is what it takes."

Everyone in the room looked uncomfortable, glancing to the side, not meeting each others eye's.

back in the conferance room David Perth waited patently in his seat sipping his tea. The Secretary had been kind enough to refill it.

"My Lord, do you really think that they will agree to hand her over?" His body guard asked.

"Certainly Gurain, the TSAB has been under pressure to do something about us for years, at this point I am quite confidant that they will cough our little runaway up if promised the right things."

The door opened and they all looked up, In the doorway stood the TSAB representatives. The rather plump Ambassidor who called himself Lenis Milano spoke out. "Very well Mr. Perth, we have decided to see what we can do about getting you Runsssa.

Ch 6 The start of an Incident

The sound of tearing, screaming metal and chimes repeated itself and suddenly the ground and air changed. So did the light.

"Ooww!"

"Gha!"

"Jie!"

"What the bl nnmmm!"

"Ung!

Everyone in the group cried out in surprise and mild pain as a sudden flood of sunlight hit eyes accustomed to a dark moonlit church. Rin was no exception as a stream of blinding white light made her clap her hands over her eyes as they begun to tear up uncontrollably.

After hopping up and down for a while at the sudden pain Rin uncovered her eyes, it was still unbearably bright but she could make out shapes now through the haze of light. Almost everyone was clutching their face shielding them with their arms, all except Rider who's blindfolded must have protected her. Others were recovering faster than her, and she felt a twinge of disappointment at being unable to see Gilgamesh holding his face in pain. After a few seconds her vision began to clear up proper even though it still hurt. She realized that they were standing in a grassy place like a park, and that the sun was shining proudly down on them from a place in the sky that suggested midday. Around them grew trees and shaped bushes that suggested a high class private garden or park.

One by one the other Masters and Servants recovered enough to look around. All except the old man who was huddling down on the ground. Rather than recovering from the sudden change like everyone else he appeared to be getting worse. Laying on the ground he began to make disturbing noises, half screaming half groaning loudly. His black robed Servant was crouching over him. Even though he was masked and swathed in a concealing black shroud he still somehow gave of the impression of being quite alarmed at his Master's condition. The old man was burning, Rin could see that, even though there were no flames his skin was quickly turning reddish and even black in some places.

The old man's Servant swept of his pure black cloak and laid it over his Master covering him completely. Without his cloak Rin saw that the masked Servant was very lean almost skeletal yet still somehow incredibly muscular. One arm was thin and almost unnaturally long yet bulging with tight knots of mussel at odd intervals, his other arm was swathed so thickly in black cloth that it appeared disproportionally thick. The cloth covered his entire limb so that not even his hand was visible.

The voice of the old man rasped out strange syllables that sounded unlike anything Rin had ever heard before, after a little while the form of the old man shrunk and then disappeared leaving the cloak laying flat on the ground. The wiry Assassin Servant piked it up and then looked around. Everyone was watching the scene. The Assassin swept his cloak over himself and then wordlessly sped away from them, disappearing faster than a gunshot in a blur of black speed his tattered cloak billowing out noiselessly behind him.

"Well... that was... weird." Will said rather blandly, breaking the dead silence that had followed Assassins disappearance.

Rin looked around and was suddenly aware of a woman standing frozen not ten feet from them with her face contorted in shock. "U-um... uuuu where did... you.." she made out when she saw Rin look at her.

Before Rin could say anything a volley of purple energy bolts hit her in the chest, the woman's eyes widened for a little before she crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Rin spun around, Caster was pointing her hand at the woman with all her fingers spread out. Rin though about saying something but then changed her mind, nothing she could say would change Caster and the woman would have been killed one way or the other.

"Where are we?" Bazett asked.

Rin heard someone gasp and looked up, then she gasped herself her jaw slackening for what felt like the tenth time that day. Dominating the skyline all around them were skyscrapers, hundreds and hundreds of skyscrapers, some were large, most were huge but a few were impossibly gigantic, towering over them like sheer mountain cliffs. Rin stood simply looking up, suddenly struck with a sense of smallness.

All the times she had felt shocked that day had each been for distinctly different reasons, she had been stunned with nostalgia, filled with dread, and paralyzed with awe, now she was overwhelmed with shear scale as she took in the impossibly huge city that surrounded them on all sides.

Rin's reaction was nothing to the reaction of the Servants.

"S,blood!" breathed Saber gaping up at the towering monoliths that surrounded them.

"Vt Damnaigh!" Lancer muttered looking up as well his jaw going slack. The other Servants reacted much the same, some reverting briefly to their original languages in shock. Only Rider and Caster appeared unfazed (though this was not the case at all).

In one way it was the opposite of when Samantha Green had informed them that the Invaders had spaceships and were from another dimension. Then the Masters had been surprised and unbelieving, now though it was the Servants who were stunned into silence more so than their mortal companions. While none of the Masters had seen skyscrapers this big before they had all seen skyscrapers and grown up with them. None of the Servants had grown up with Skyscrapers and most did not remember them from the Grail Wars, even Saber who did was still blown away by the difference in size between the ones on earth and the ones surrounding them.

They must have stood there for several minutes before anyone spoke.

"So, what are you going to do now?" the priest Fergon said eying the Servants nervously as if wondering whether or not he was about to be murdered.

"Come on Lancer" Bazet said "We need to get out of here before more people come by and see us. Astralize." Lancer faded away and Bazett began walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Will called out.

"Where do you think?" she said over her shoulder "To find the Grail." With that she disappeared around the corner.

"Come girl." Bluebeard said gliding away in the other direction. The small silent girl who was his Master followed after him quickly.

"Bluebeard!" Saber yelled out as he left. The robed servant turned back towards her.

"What is this? You would have words with me after all?" He said sounding strangely hopeful.

Whatever he had been expecting Saber ground it to dust "We might be ally's for now but I am watching you. If you give me even the slightest reason to suspect that you are preying on the innocent... your gone. I will hunt you down even if it means the loss of the crusade for me, I will send you back to whatever putrid hole in the Throne of Heroes that you crawled out of. This I swear on my honor as a knight." Her eyes seemed to burn as they looked at him and for a moment Bluebeard looked afraid, he nervously stroked the place on his neck where her sword had cut him.

Then he regained himself "I wouldn't dream of it" he said firmly in a smooth voice. With that he turned on his heel and walked away Master in tow. The were soon out of sight having turned a corner in the opposite direction.

The exchange left a sense of danger in the air even after Bluebeard was out of sight. Others began to leave soon after.

"So this is it?" Will asked sounding exasperated. "We find ourselves suddenly in the middle of a strange city that we know nothing about and we all just go our own ways?"

"Did you not hear me earlier boy?" Gilgamesh said making Will close his mouth with a snap (something about the Servant in the white fur coat made Will sharply aware of how vulnerable he would be without Saber near him.) "From here on out we search for the Grail like Heroic spirits were meant to. A quest to recover our goal and punish our enemies We stop for nothing, go and serve Saber well, I will be watching you..." Gilgamesh smiled and trailed off sending chills up Wills spine. He turned to the priest. "Find a place stay and keep the Kaleidoscope, we will find you after our victory." With that Gilgamesh turned and walked away in the direction that Assassin had fled, his 'Master' tailing behind him they walked out of sight.

One by one the different groups split up and went their own ways, the Servants Astralizing and fading away as their Masters set out in various directions. Soon Rin, Archer, Saber and Will stood together together.

"We need to leave before someone else comes along and finds that woman. I don't want to have to kill a bunch of civilians because we didn't move in time." Will said looking at the crumpled body that lay on the concrete path.

Rin nodded and began to follow Will as he walked away. He tuned around sharply. "What are are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Rin said in a irritated tone. "Following you. We will function much better as a team, at least until we know more about this city."

"Now see that's where I have a problem." Will said lowering his head and looking at her from under his eyebrows. " You see, my Servant might trust you but I don't really know you."

"Master!" Saber exclaimed sharply. "Rin is an honorable woman who would never betray her allies!"

"Now you see Saber, that's hard" Will replied in a slow, skeptical measured tone. "Because, while I'm sure that you are acquainted with her, you have only known her for what? A week? A week and a half? And that was 17 years ago. You don't know how she could have changed in that time."

"Master..." Saber said softly.

"Now, I'm sure that you are a fine person Ms. Rin" Will continued, ignoring Saber. "And you have my thanks for returning my Servant her Spear, but until I have a little more first hand knowledge of you I think we will go our separate ways for now. You see I, know you association Mages."

Rin's eyes narrowed, she had half expected something like this but it still ticked her off anyway.

"Especially the ones like you with your big houses and fancy bloodlines, and I don't want some weird compulsion curse that's been handed down through your family for the past million years put on me in my sleep."

Rins scowl deepened "So that's how it is. You just want to go of on your own into **that**-" she pointed of into the maze of architecture that surrounded them. "and win this crusade by yourself like the other idiots. Despite what that self inflated bastard Gil said we are still alone in a strange city, it would be wise to stick together at least until we understand what this place is like better."

"No" Archer said caching Rin off guard.

She spun around "What do you mean by "No"!" she blurted at Archer in her fiercest exasperated voice.

"Rin, If the man does not want to work with you then it is foolish to try and press the issue no mater how tactically convenient it might be, if two Masters do not trust each other it can only end badly. No mater how much Saber trusts you it will not make a difference if her Master uses a command seal to make her kill us because he thinks we are trying to manipulate him."

Rin went back to scowling.

Archer went on "For now we should work independently, we can establish truces when we know what we are working with."

"This is folly!" Saber said, equally exasperated. "If this were the Grail War I could see your concern but we are suppose to be allies. Could you not set aside your suspicions at least for now? I give you my word that Rin Tohsaka is a virtuous woman deserving of your complete confidence. I am no mean judge of character!"

"No I'm with the Archer Servant on this one." Will said firmly.

"Fine then." Rin said changing her expression. She threw her hair over her shoulder and turned her nose up at him closing her eyes. "When you get tired of running around in circles come looking for me and maybe you will get lucky."

Will smiled at her "Oh I wont need to do that." He swung his pack off and begun to rummage through it.

Rin opened her eyes and watched him grope around, her curiosity momentarily overcoming her anger.

After a little while Will evidently found what he was looking for as he pulled out a small glass lens and handed it to her.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the help you gave me back at your house. If you need to talk just look into this and think out a message. I will get it."

Rin held up the glass, it was a circular lens set in a cast iron socket. She pocketed it and sneered at him. "Well thanks Mr handyman. If I need the help of an ungrateful little drifter I may give you a call," Turning to Saber her face softened "Good luck Saber, be careful."

"The same blessing and advise I give to you Rin" Saber said solemnly.

With that Rin turned and began to walk away, Archer following after, and then astralizing he dissolved into an outline and was gone.

Will turned and walked out of the park as well. It was vacant and they appeared to have come out very near the edge as he could see where the grass soon met pavement and the city begun. Saber dismissed her armor and donning her simple blue skirt and white blouse.

After turning a few corners the Park ended and they stepped out into the city soon losing themselves among the maze of buildings and the light crowds of people.

*Scene *

Yuuno sat at a long fancy rectangular conference table, one among nearly 100 people in the spacious hall. The table, which was located right beneath a small elevated stage, seated 20. Behind the table were rows of chairs that seated the rest of the 80 some people who were gathered in the room. As Chief Librarian of the Infinite Library Yuuno whad been given a seat at the table, an honor reserved for notables. Despite his earlier frustrations he was admittedly exited. Around him were some of the most distinguished Scientific minds in the TSAB, not to mention a host of other respectable names. It was the second meeting that had been held over the new Lost Logia and it dwarfed the first by about 70 people. The Lost Logia that had been uncovered a few weeks ago had undergone a thorough examination by a small army of Mages and Scientists, many of whom were now seated in the room, and a report conference had been called to draw conclusions about it before continuing.

Needless to say it was a big event and lots of people had tried to gain entrance, one of the things that Talen Corellis had demanded in return for his assistance was that Yuuno make sure that he got in. This was rather awkward as Talen wasn't technically part of the project and there was a considerable waiting list of people who were. Never the less the thin Historian had insisted and Yuuno had been compelled to recommended him to the project leaders as an exceptional individual who should be admitted. It wasn't a lie but it did make Yuuno feel like he was abusing his position.

Yuuno looked out over the crowd and saw him siting in the second row, Talen was speaking to a dark haired woman in a white lab coat who looked extremely uncomfortable with him siting next to her. He was talking away nevertheless, apparently indifferent to the fact that his audience looked like she was being forced to hold a jar of live spiders. Yuuno smiled slightly remembering how he had been almost as unnerved when he first met Talen. He turned back to the white paper folder that was in front of him. After joining him Talen had been a great help, thinking around corners and lending his considerable knowledge to the search, together and with a few other helpers they had scoured the library up and down for the rest of the week. And after all that the sum of their effort was only 5 pages long. This was going to be embarrassing.

The room was buzzing with the chaotic roar that can only be made by 100 people talking at once while they wait impatiently for the event to begin. Finally after what seemed like an hour of waiting (Wasn't that always the way of things?) a man walked up onto the stage and called for attention in a magically amplified voice.

"Greetings everyone" The man said after quieting the room down " I am Dr. Lemtion the leader of this project and the head of the primary study team. It is good to see so many esteemed men of science here under one roof to address this marvel. I am quite sure that you are all eager to hear the latest so without further adieu let us begin. After some simple tests we have confirmed beyond a doubt that Lost Logia # 9461 is exuding magical energy of a nature almost entirely foreign to that generated by Linker Cores."

No one raised an eyebrow at that, it had been apparent almost from the moment that the artifact had been detected, and this announcement was only a conformation of the obvious made because of the situations uniqueness. "Obviously" the man continued "This caries a lot of implications, as well as discounts many possibilities. Whatever is gleaned from tonight's meeting, it will be the beginning of an exciting new look into Ancient Belka and even possibly a new branch of Magic entirely." He paused for a moment as if to let that sink in before continuing. "Before anything else however I would like to introduce to you the man who is responsible for this extraordinary find. May I present, the much esteemed Dr. Daichi Murano!"

Yuuno was struck with a sense of familiarity. _Wait a minute I know that name._ He looked closely at the person who was walking up on stage. The man was familiar to him, with brown hair and a broad honest looking face. Yuuno taped his finger on the table trying to remember, then it came back in a flash. _Daichi! That's the same guy who wrote that one article! Oh my goodness, I cant believe it! The " Claus Ingvalt was a Fedisian spy" guy... I tore that article to shreds personally, what is he doing here?"_

Daichi walked forward onto the stage and stood proudly next to Dr. Lemtion who moved aside for him.

"Hello everyone I am Dr. Murano." Daichi said smiling as he greeted the crowd. "Before we begin I would like to say a few words about the discovery of the Red Moon Crystal. Only a month ago I was just another Scientist working to further the Historical knowledge of the TSAB."

Yuuno didn't know where Daichi was gong with the speech but at the last announcement he had to work to prevent himself from snorting loudly.

"It was then that I thought to look back into the TSAB records in search for a missing link in our prestigious history that had bothered me ever sense I entered the field of Science." Daichi said in a dramatic voice. "17 years ago a mysterious power surge was detected by a TSAB observational probe, it was a significant event but because of its unlikely origin and other more pressing maters it was left unexamined. With the record in front of me and with my commitment to TSAB scientific standards it became obvious to me that this was something that deserved, no, demanded proper investigation."

Daichi went on reciting the speech that he had worked on for days now in a flowing well practiced manner. He was quite pleased with it. Ever sense his triumphant return to Mid, his earlier reputation had been completely forgotten. Hailed as a brilliant discoverer and introduced to some of the most influential people in the Scientific community Daichi's fortune had taken a major turn for the better and he now spent much of his time being entertained by wealthy hosts and doing interviews for various magazines. It all cumulated tonight, his big introduction. If things went well and he made a good impression on this crowd he would be cemented as the hero who risked everything to bring them this marvel. If not then he might be blown off and quietly loose the stage as he was pushed into the backs of everyone's minds. Hence his speech that he had prepared, this way he was the one everyone would remember him opening the event, rather than that old dried up husk Dr Lemton.

"When we discovered the source of the readings and began our excavations we were faced with many frustrations and setbacks, however through perseverance and ingenuity I was at last able to find and recover the Artifact that I had searched so long for with the help of my comrades. I dare say that while I was unaware of its existence up until a month ago that, in some ways I have been searching earnestly for this for my entire life. Regretably one of my men paid the highest price for the recovery of the Lost Logia. I ask you now that you would put your all into examining the Red Moon Crystal as I did in finding it. Thank you."

Daichi bowed and stepped of the stage to a thunderous applause and walked back to his seat.

Yuuno was surprised, it had started out sounding rather standard but in the end it hadn't been a half bad speech all things considering. He found himself clapping politely. _Perhaps this guy isn't what I took him for earlier._ Yuuno thought to himself. _Everyone goes through an idiot faze sometimes, besides just striking out and hitting a find like this doesn't exactly just happen by accident._

Dr. Lemton walked back up on stage smiling "Thank you, Dr. Murano for you words of inspiration. With that note I would like to begin."

There was an even louder applause to this and quite a few yells of "Hear hear!" and even a shout from the back of "About time!" which evoked a few chuckles throughout the crowd.

The meeting commenced as a string of people giving research and study reports went forward. Yuuno was one of the first to be called up for his report going right after the second report (A report on a string of runes that were found inside the Lost Logias original resting place, the reports conclusion was... pending). He straightened his papers and walked up on the stage.

"Allow me to introduce Dr. Yuuno Scrya, Chief Librarian of the Infinite Library," Dr Lemton said giving a slight bow and moving aside. There was a light scattered applause as Yuuno stepped up to the podium.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen" Yuuno said, going into his speech mode he had been using since he was 17. "Upon taking part in this project I and several of my associates have spent many days searching through the Infinite Library for any records of such an artifact in Ancient Belka or otherwise. We have found none. From then on we searched for any record of energy signatures that resembled that put out by Lost Logia #9461 as well as any magical systems, experiments or even natural phenomena and legends pertaining to such." Yuuno took a breath. "Again we have found almost nothing resembling anything that could be connected to this new Artifact."

A distinct and slightly alarmed murmur spread throughout the crowd. Yuuno felt a pang of something a little like shame (maybe closer to embarrassment). Almost everyone in that crowd would have been expecting at least some kind of answer from the library, some origin to attach the new Lost Logia to and build off of. For what must have been the first time in a very long while there was nothing. No ancient record to examine or speculate upon, no wealth of folklore and reference to sift through. It was a strange moment, like embarking on a journey and then realizing your long trusted map is useless.

"Because of this" Yuuno went on " I believe that we are looking at two possibilities. One, that this Artifact is the results of either a highly secretive operation of which all records have perished. This would explain its strange location and its hostile reaction to magical contact that it would not have recognized, as a defense mechanisms meant to preserve its secrecy. That is in my opinion, the most likely case." Yuuno paused a moment "The other possibility cannot be ignored however. One of my colleagues has suggested, and I am forced to acknowledge the possibility, that the Artafact we are dealing with is not a Lost Logia at all, but a relic from something even older, and possibly some of our first solid evidence of the existence of Al-Hazard or a similar civilization."

Yuuno stopped speaking and looked around the room. He had been expecting laughter but the room was silent and except for one or two people who he could tell were snickering into their arms everyone was looking at him completely seriously. The few who were snickering stopped quickly when they realized that no one else was.

"That is all" Yuuno said after a small pause. There was a subdued applause from everyone in the room.

"Thank you, Dr. Scrya." Dr. Lempton said as Yuuno stepped down from the podium. "In that case I would like to call up our next presenter, Dr. Elum from engineering."

As Yuuno walked back to his seat several trains of thought were running through his mind. On one hand he was pleasantly surprised that they appeared to be taking his theory's completely seriously. On the other hand... _If they are taking about the leagend of Al-Hazard as a serious possibility then this thing __**really**_ _must be confounding them. _

The Scientist who walked up next was a short man in a white lab coat. "Greeting's I am Dr. Elum with the report on the objects Physical and Magical makeup, while I cannot affirm either of Dr. Yuuno's theory's our research has indeed pointed in very strange directions. When Lost Logia #9461 came in we assembled some of our best men in this area and set to work immediately." Elums voice lowered "Unfortunately we have been unable to make any significant headway."Lost Logia #9461, from what we have gathered from extensive scans, is composed of a substance that we have been completely unable to identify, aside from a crystalline structure it has no notable similarity's with any other substance known to science. However this is not conclusive as we have been unable to gain a sample or even come into physical contact with it making many of our more simple methods of analysis impossible. #9461 destroys anything that comes into physical contact with it with the exception of mindless inanimate objects."

The crowd went back to murmuring, it was clear that the mystery was deepening rather than unfolding as the meeting drew on.

"Furthermore we have reason to believe that it is intelligent to some degree. So far it has reacted to all physical contact with instantaneous incineration. However rather than destroying the object that touches it, it instead targets the will that is responsible. We learned this early on when one of our men was killed by it after operating a mechanical drill to try and gain a sample of the artifact. The unfortunate man was burnt to death despite being in a completely different room more than 50 yards from it. It detected him somehow and burnt through 5 feet of type 2 reinforced carbon nanofiber to get to him."

The room was full of whispering now as people digested this new information with their partners. Yuuno felt unnerved himself as he listened. Subtly so as not to be rude he opened a small Magicam to Talen, concealing its glow with his hand.

Talens face appeared looking worried. "What do you think?" Yuuno whispered. "If its a automatic defense program then its awfully powerful and sophisticated."

"That's true" Tallen said. "however it could also be intelligent and malicious."

"Mm." Yuuno grunted "I think its a little to early to assume that, however either way its still really bad."

Elume went on as the whispering died down once more. "Since then we have been using robots in all of our experiments with it. It appears to recognize them as separate beings and incinerates them rather than the people giving them orders. Never the less we have remained unable to gain a sample of Lost Logia #9461 or discover anything more about it. It is unlikely that we will be able to until we find a way to shut down its sophisticated defensive program." Elume took a bow and then walked off the stage leaving a grim looking Dr. Lempton standing there.

As the day wore on and the clock moved from 1:30 to 5:00, Yuuno felt his heart sink a little. A seemingly endless stream of Scientists and researchers from all over walked up on stage and gave reports before retreating back to the crowd to make room for the next one. Report after report came in almost all of them saying nearly the same thing.

The current presenter (a square faced man in a three piece suit) was giving his report in a dry monotone that only highlighted how little he really had to say.

"In conclusion, we have been unable to discern anything further from Lost Logia #9461"

An extremely dull applause was given as he stepped off stage, Yuuno only bringing his hands together once or twice before stopping. Finally after what seemed like an eternity the meeting ended with Dr. Lempton giving a short ending speech.

Yuuno stood up and stretched. The seat at the table had been quite comfortable but 4 hours of siting anywhere is still grating. As he headed for the exit Yunno was not quite sure whether to be glad that the meeting was over or disappointed that it had been so dull. He shuffled his way through the crowd and met Talen halfway through. The woman who had been looking like she wanted to spray him with a can of mace when the meeting started was now listening to Talen talk intently with her mouth hanging slightly open.

Yuuno smiled to see it, although rare it did sometimes happen that he overcame peoples nervousness of him with shear openness. "Well Talen, from the way things are going it looks like you theory about Al- Hazard might be a lot more likely than anyone thought."

Talen turned to him smiling his little "What did I tell you" smile that he only rarely puled out. "Ah Ms. Arakaw, I don't think that you have met Professor Scrya?"

The lady in the lab coat turned to him gaping. "Uha! You know **the **Professor Scrya!"

"A pleasure to meet you Ms. Arakaw" Yuuno said cheerfully.

Arakaw stared at him before breaking out into a huge smile "Mr. Scrya sir its an honor! I've heard all about you!"

"Well glad to hear that my name still get around even when I'm buried in the Library most of the time these days." Yuuno said.

"Oh of course it does Sir!" Arakaw chimed enthusiasticly " The Chief of the Infinite Library and at such a young age!" She trailed off before turning back to Talen. "I had no idea that you knew the Chief Librarian!"

"Oh well, we are acquainted with each other." Talen replied evenly. "I met him a few years ago and we worked together for a short time during which we came to realize our shared interests. Yuuno this young lady is an analyst on Dr Elums team."

"Oh? Have you seen it then? The Lost Logia I mean." Yuuno asked his voice hopeful.

Arakaw's face fell a little "Um... yes, yes I have."

"So?" Yuuno said pressing on eagerly "What's it like, this 'Red Moon Crystal'?"

"Well, its nice enough looking in of itself" She said without any real enthusiasm. "It looks a bit like a oversized ruby or something... and it floats...mostly though it just sits there and occasionally fry's anyone stupid enough to touch it, or make a machine touch it." she added bitterly.

"Have there been more deaths that we haven't been informed of?" Yuuno asked. Arakaw's ponderous answer made him suspicious.

"What? Oh no." She replied hastily "It's just that... I don't particularly like it. I was there when it killed Kail."

"Who?" Yuuno asked.

"Wha... Ahhh! They didn't even mention his name did they!" Arakaw said holding her clenched fists to the sides of her head in a sudden rush of anger. "Kail Ginald was the man who was operating the anit-Magic remote drill. He got killed! It's that #*!#^% Daichi's fault! When he heard that the fastest way to get results would be to take a sample he insisted that they get one no mater what. Then when Kail died he told them to play the incident down!"

"Wait, so the man who was burnt to death was Kail Ginald." Yuuno asked slowly.

Arakaw nodded.

"And Daichi. Daichi Murano wanted to have his death played down?" Yuuno went on.

Arakaw nodded again "Yeah. Once he found out he had a big argument with Dr. Elum. He thought that it would be bad publicity if people's attention was drawn to the fact that this thing had killed **again**."

"You are referring of course to the archeologist who was killed during retrieval?" Talen asked

"Yes, I'm glad that you were informed of that at least." Arakaw said a little sourly.

"Well, it seems that Mr. Daichi is more than a little unscrupulous." Talen said solemnly.

"Unscrupulous? The guy is a greasy weasel." Arakaw said in a grouchy voice.

Yuuno suddenly froze, his eyebrow twitching. "If you have anything against weasels, Ms Arakaw then you had better bring it out now." Yuuno said his voice strained and dangerous.

"Huh?"

Talen quickly stepped in between to the two "I'm sorry Ms Arakaw but my partner here has thing for weasels, he-"

"I-Ignorant!" Yuuno sputered. "Weasels are noble animals who deserve respect and love! A weasel would never allow its pelt to become dirty much less greasy!"

Talen began to try and herd Yuuno away into the crowd but was having limited success.

"Weasels lick their fur 3 times a day and their vision is better than humans! They can jump 5 feet through the air and smell another animal a mile away!"

Arakaw was standing stock still looking at Yuuno with her mouth open and a slight blush on her face. The scene was drawing stares.

"It was nice to meet you Mr Arakaw, I'm afraid that you hit on a rather sensitive issue though and we must retire." Talen said still pushing Yuuno away.

"- they can see in the dark! They can make out the silhouette of a diving eagle from 20 meters!" Yuuno went on over Talens shoulder. He was yelling now to be heard over the crowd and across the widening gap between him and Arakaw. Finally she disappeared from view in the crowd and he stopped yelling.

Talen let him go "What is it with you and those animals Yuuno? I understand that your animal transformation is one but did you really have to frighten the young lady over a expression of speech?"

Yuuno looked Talen in the eye with a frown. "Its not just an expression of speech! That's a shallow excuse. Expressions of speech show that people have accepted the term on a subconscious level and inevitably hold contempt for the subject. Weasels should be revered, why don't we teach our kids about them in school? What's so special about whales?"

Talen regarded Yuuno carefully with his frozen glassy eyes as if thinking of something deep to say. Yuuno braced himself for one of Talens logic storms.

"Its just a weasel Yuuno."

Yuuno stared Talen straight in the eyes as the thin man waited for a response. As he looked he was once again struck by the surreal sense that Talen was looking through him rather than at him. Yuuno burst out laughing. "What was that? I thought you were going to shoot me down with extreme prejudice."

"Sometimes an argument is so fundamentally ridiculous that it dose not deserve to be addressed with logic." Talen said simply.

Yuuno winced, there it was, had almost actually though that he beaten Talen in an argument for once. With a sigh he walked towards the crowded exit. "Lets go, maybe after this meeting they will wait till they have more information before giving my next assignment." They walked out into the night, Yuuno grabbing a glass of champagne off a table of them as they left.

*Scene *

Bazett walked through the city looking up at the towering architecture that rose all around her. She knew now that she was on a different planet, the alien moon that was visible even during the day had given her quite a shock when she first saw it and made her realize that this was more than just an alternate dimension. Whatever she had been expecting of the mysterious TSAB it wasn't this. A whole city on an alien world.

Adding to the surreal feeling was the way everything felt so... normal. People walked up and down the street talking, laughing and arguing like in any other city. Just without smog. Or, apparently, any drunks that she could see.

"Iyyy... for another dimension this place is really boring" Lancer said to her, his astralized voice reverberating in her mind.

"We need to find a place to stay until we can locate the TSAB, at least for now a simple hotel should do." Bazett said ignoring Lancer's complaint.

They walked on for a while, Lancer occasionally making comments. Finally after walking in the same direction and not really getting anywhere different for about half an hour, Bazett stopped a man on the street and asked him where she could find a information booth.

"Tourist are you?"

Bazett nodded curtly.

"Right, well you are a long way from the parts of town that your probably interested in then. If I were you I would call a cab and ask to be taken down to the East Waterfront, that would be a better place to start looking from, I don't involve myself in such things much so I can't really tell you more."

After thanking the man Bazett and almost calling a cab Bazett realized, much to her embarrassment, that her money would almost certainty be useless here.

"Why don't we just call a cab and then hit him on the head after he takes us where we want?" Lancer asked nonchalantly.

"No. I don't want to risk starting a commotion this early in the game." Bazett replied crossly. "We are gonna have to walk for a while, at least until we can find a place to have our money converted." _If they even have a conversion for our currency. _She thought dismally.

Asking directions from another passerby Bazett began what sounded like would be a long, long walk down the the East Waterfront.

It did indeed take a long time and the sun was getting low in the sky by the time that Bazett and her invisible companion left behind the forest of sky scrapers and came to a place where the buildings were smaller and the streets lined with shops that resembled places where you would buy things to take home. As they passed through Bazett saw several Hotels that would have done nicely and made a mental note to find this area again after she found a place where she could learn more and (hopefully) get her money converted.

As they walked through the street occasionally stopping to ask for directions from passerby's, Lancer suddenly stopped.

"Well what do you know!" He said brightly looking into one of the shop windows on the other side of the street "they have them here."

"What? What do they have?" Bazett asked looking around for anything familiar that Lancer would have recognized.

"Those! I forget what he called them, "Guters" or something like that" Lancer said. With that he jumped across the street, clearing the road and the traffic in one light hop leaving Bazett behind much to her annoyance.

Although she was a bit taller than most women, Bazett couldn't quite make out what Lancer was looking at through the window. "Lancer get back here!" she hissed across the street. It was no good, he couldn't hear her over the traffic. Frustrated she mentally wiled him to come back. Servants did not have telepathy (or most did not at least) But they could usually detect if their Masters wanted them by their side.

Lancer ignored it.

After willing him to come back mental for a little more and getting no response she felt herself getting angry. Finally she yelled out loudly "Lancer get back here!" in a voice that carried across the street.

Lancers only response was a nonchalant wave at her over his shoulder. People were looking at her slightly alarmed wondering what she was yelling at.

Bazett gritted her teeth together "I swear if he... I should...!"

Looking both ways she waited for a lull in traffic and then scurried across quickly, getting honked at by several cars as she did so and drawing more looks.

"What is it!" she hissed at him outraged as she walked up beside him. Lancer had an amused smile on his face as he pointed in the shop window. Set in several cases and on various hooks and stands were a selection of Guitars and a few other stringed instruments.

"What? A Guitar? Why would you-! How do you even know what a guitar is!" Bazett said nearly exploding.

"Guitar! I knew it was something like that. Its kind of long story, I'll tell you after we get one."

"What? No. Lets go Lancer, I nearly got run over crossing the street just now, we need to find out more about this place and then get a place to stay for a while! If this is going to be how you treat your Master then I needn't even say that we wont last long."

Lancer stood there unfazed by Bazetts tirade "hmm, cool your horses Master we have a long time before things get dangerous. Besides do you really think that I would let my beautiful Master get run over in the street like a rat?" There was a time at which Bazett might have blushed at his words but that was in the past, now she was 40 years old and wiser in the ways of the world.

"Well, I know that you need to get your little paper scraps changed into slightly different looking paper scraps, but we can come back later, or I could just take one." Lancer went on.

Bazett sighed "No Lancer, if you want one that badly then steal it later." She started to walk away and Lancer followed her.

"So why do you want a guitar so much? I didn't think they had those when you were alive." Bazzet asked, curious despite being rather put out.

"Oh no, they didn't" Lancer replied absently.

Bazett's eyebrows furrowed up "Then how did you...?"

"Oh well" Lancer said with a laugh and a grin "When I was in the throne of hero's I happened to meet another Heroic spirit."

"Wait you can interact with other spirits inside the throne?" Bazett asked in surprise, her irritation abating momentarily in light of the revelation "I didn't know that."

"Well not usually, normally we stay in our own domains, interaction is generally pretty rare and its usually in the form of an invasion but-"

"Wait wait, wait. Domains? Invasion's? You guys fight each other inside the throne?" Bazett asked now extremely curious. She had always wondered what the throne of Heroes was like but had never asked and as far as she knew none of the other Master ever had either.

Lancer looked at her like he was trying to find the words to explain something difficult "Not... really. At least not in the same way that we fight here. Its more like... well... You see inside the throne every Heroic Spirit has their own domain or realm that is theirs to do as they will in, we can't really interact with eachother. The greater the legend the larger the domain. Despite what I said earlier about doing what we want inside them there is not really all that much to do, we spend most of our time asleep dreaming, and even when we aren't the throne of Heroes is half like a dream anyway."

Bazett listened intently as they walked down the street, to think that she was getting first hand information on the Throne of Heroes just because she though to ask why her Servant knew about guitars. It thrilled her and almost made her laugh at the same time.

"Well just as legends change and shift so do our domains inside the Throne and sometimes two domains will come close to one another. When that happens, if the two heroes are at odds (Or even if they aren't" Lancer said with a mischievous look in his eye) " we will sometimes invade one another."

"What is that like?" Bazett asked eager to learn as much as she could. _After all how many people ever get an interview like this? _She thought to herself.

"Well..." Lancer said with a hesitancy that was quite unlike him "It depends on how big the invasion is, if its a small one then the borders of the two opposing realms just kinda... smash together and try to push the other back. On the other hand if its a big invasion things can get more interesting."

"Do you fight each other then?"

"No, that's impossible inside the throne... I cant explain it completely but things are much different there. If the Invasion really heats up we will send our shadows after each other."

"Shadows?" Bazett said not really getting what he was saying.

"Their kind of like pieces of ourselves that we can form from the stuff of our domain. They are made from the memory's we have of other people we once knew. Anyway we will make a bunch of them, usually a small army of them in-fact and the two shadow groups will fight it out and try and drive the other back."

Bazett was quietly astounded, she had always been under the impression that the Spirits just kind of hung in limbo while they were waiting to be summoned. Apparently that was not the case. "What happens to the looser?"

Lancer snorted "Not much really, the loosing party is usually shoved further down into the Throne while the winner floats further to the top. But it really doesn't matter that much or change anything. It's more of a pissing mach than anything, quite a lot of Heroic Spirits don't even bother with it. Anyway you cant really tell who you are fighting half the time and you quickly forget even if you can. The Throne is like that, it's primarily concerned with the memory of things that have happened on earth. Remembering things that go on inside it is impossible most of the time."

Bazett pondered this, it sounded rather depressing. Lance was looking more subdued as he related this than she had ever really seen him.

He suddenly shook himself from head to toe and yawned, like a dog shaking off water after a wetting.

"Anyway, where was I? Yeah, back to guitars."

She blinked, in the time that he had taken explaining Domains and invasion's she had completely forgot how the conversation had started.

"I woke up from a dose inside the Throne one day and was having a period of alertness that is quite rare for a spirit at my depth when I noticed another much smaller domain quite close to mine. I was feeling rather frendly at the time and so I shifted over to it and inquired as to the ocupant, we fought a little but it was a very, very young Heroic Spirit and I am old enough to be called venerable so I got the upper hand quickly. I would have pushed him under but I hadn't been that aware for a while and I've invaded more than a few people so I was bored of it at the time. Anyway one thing came to another and we got to communing across the realm gap. We did that for a little, normally I cant abide most of the new Heroic Spirits (They are all much to flighty, none of them care a thing for the old codes and they cant hold their mead) but we got along fine. After a while I invited him over and arranged to see him almost face to face.

So we arranged a almost meeting and went out to see each other. When I got to the edge of my realm and looked out I saw him on the other side, he was on older man dressed in black with long brown hair seated on a burning throne. He had a sword and a shield propped up against his chair and a silver goblet in his hand, but most strangely he had one of those guitars slung over his shoulder and he would occasionally strum it when he talked. Well we had words with each other, and I eventually asked him about the instrument he was playing, one thing came to another and he threw me one across the gap and instructed me how to play it."

Bazett turned around and looked at lancer as he finished hi tail. "So that's how you knew. Some other Heroic spirit told you. What was his name?"

"Dio I think it was."

"Hmmm... never heard of him." Bazett said after thinking for a moment.

They arrived at a little shop labeled Information and stepped inside. Her money was indeed incompatible so she stole a map of the city and a few other brochures after asking where she could get money converted. To do it they would have had to walk all the way to the spaceport (Bazett nearly choked on her own saliva when she heard that) which was nearly 40 miles distant. After a short debate outside they quickly realized that they were going to have to steal to get along. Neither of them liked it but nevertheless 10 minutes later Lancer found himself quickly taking money from a cash register while Bazett distracted the clerk outside.

The sun was going down by the time a tired and irritated Bazett Fraga McRemitz walked into a small hotel and bought a room for a few days.

Looking out the window as the sun set and alien moons and constellations marched across the sky she reflected that she was going to have trouble just orientating herself in this city much less going after and fighting the TSAB, which she now suspected from the information on the tourist brochures, was the planetary government rather than the coven of Mages that they had all been expecting. It changed thing's. Rather than being the hunter of an underground Mages organization she pondered that maybe she was fighting a much broader entity, one the encompassed millions of innocent women and children. Nevertheless the war was on, and whoever the TSAB was they would have to give up the Grail one way or the other, and if that meant killing them then there was no stopping now. Still when she thought about it that way she could not help but feel a little like a villain. Just a little.

*Scene *

Gregory Feldwits walked out of the pub towards his motorcycle, the boys were a laugh as always and he almost always enjoyed his time at the Shaterd Bridge Pub. However they could also get carried away, and though he enjoyed a drink more that was maybe wise from time to time he kept his prudence about him mostly. And tonight his prudence told him that it was time to get back home to Jeny before she started worrying as she so often did. He could understand it some, Alcohol did strange things to people but he also sometimes wished that she could have just a little more faith in his conviction to never ride his motorcycle smashed.

He had had only a few drinks that night so it would be fine. Greg strode around the corner to where he had parked it humming. He unchained it and begun getting on when he felt that someone was watching him. Greg turned around, Standing only little more than an arms length behind him was a very tall woman with flowing Lavender hair. She was dresses in a black jacket and jeans and wore a pair of dark glasses. They were old fashioned looking blinds man glasses, the type with the thin black frame with two perfectly circular lenses that hung down, black as pitch. A very odd thing to wear during the day much less at night he thought. Unless of course you were really blind. After looking a little more he could not help but notice that she was breathtakingly beautiful, he felt suddenly quite awkward.

"Oy! You scared me lady. Who might you be?"

"Oh I am sorry" She replied in a voice like fine silk. "I am a bit new in these parts and I was looking around."

"That so? What for if I may ask?"

She stood there silently, not breathing a word but just watching him.

Greg looked at her a little longer, she was just standing there. It was a bit odd. He turned to get on his motorcycle.

"Say" came the woman's sultry voice "That's a nice bike."

A split second late something hit Greg hard in the back of the head and everything went black instantly.

*Scene *

Mahail Von Einzbern was having a one of the worst days of her life. Ever since she had arrived in this rotten city nothing had gone her way. After leaving the group and setting out to find a hotel room to rent (Preferably something nice) she had discovered that her money was no good. After insisting that they take it and then putting the hotel clerk's on her list of people to kill in the future when they would not she had gone to get her money converted. However and when she had inquired as to the details of this process it struck her as quit boring and much to time consuming to bother with herself. She had sent Sella to do it and she had still not returned yet much to her annoyance. Deciding to wait for her to get back had been a mistake, night had fallen and she found herself siting on a bench on the sidewalk. To think that she might have to spend the night there was galling! Especially when she could probably have just paralyzed someone and used their money to get a hotel room. Now however there was nothing for it, everyone was indoors except for a very few. The idea of actually spending the night outside in a strange city frightened her and in a moment of desperation she had sent Leysritt to search for a place to stay that was at least anywhere but here.

Now she wished that she had taken Leysritt's advice about temperance rather than snapping at her to do as she said. Because now she was alone, siting on a bench by the sidewalk with only the foreboding astralized form of Berserker for company. When she thought about it she didn't really like the enormous giant of a Servant, he seemed to struggle and chafe at her every command, a constant battle of will that plagued the back of her mind and frayed her strength throughout the day.

Mahail Von Einzbern sat there on the bench pouting over her misfortune and the rotten start to the thing that her entire life apparently revolved around. And that when the pain started.

She had been siting waiting for Leysritt to come back, and thinking black thoughts when Beserker started acting up again. She gave him a measured mental push back for what seemed like the thousandth time that day but for some reason this time it was not enough, rather than go quiet like he usually did the massive Servant shoved back against her with a wave of rage. He begun thrashing around and making loud growling noses (That only she heard because of his astralization). After a brief struggle Mahail shoved him back hard aplying brute strength to the leverage over his mind given to her by the command seal. He went quiet again after a few more tugs but Mahail was suddenly felt sick.

At first it started as a vague queasy feeling, but quite suddenly after there was a pain in her upper left arm. It was an deep unbearably sharp ache that spread slowly at first from its origin point but then faster and faster till all the bones in that arm and half her chest were aching horribly. It was accompany by a crippling feeling of weariness that seemed to suck all the energy out of her. She fell to her knees on the sidewalk with her arms wrapped around her chest moaning softly.

"Hey are you all right?" a strange voice said.

Mahail looked up, there was a man looking down at her, how he had got so close she did not know.

"Leave me alone.: She gasped out.

The man continued to watch her with wide eyes. "Little girl where are your parents? Are you having a seizure!" He asked urgently laying a hand on her shoulder.

She shook it off. "Don't touch me!" Mahail snapped.

"I'm calling an ambulance! Hold on!" He said reaching for a devise in his pocket.

"Beserker kill him!" Mahail snarled.

A shadow loomed over the man his short utterance of "What-" was drowned out in beast like roar as Beserker hit the man in the chest with his club/sword so hard that his arms and legs turned to mush.

Mahail watched with savage satisfaction as Beserker kept hitting the now unrecognizable corpse reducing it to a gory smear on the asphalt. Her pain had subsided and she sat on the bench thinking about this new development as Beserker astralized again and stomped sullenly back into the shadows his rage partiality vented for the night. It was the second time that Mahail had felt something like that though the first had not been nearly as bad. The second fit scared her more than she would have liked to admit even to herself, she hoped that it wasn't anything serious. Calling Beserker to follow her she set off away from the splatter that had moments ago been a man. She would meet up with Leysritt and find a place to stay. If the Crusade was going to be unkind to her, then she would just have to be a little unkind back.

*Scene *

It was dark, night had fallen over Cranagan. Though none knew it, it was the end of an time of peace, even as the moon's rose the agents of an ancient artifact were working their way into the city like ticks into flesh. And as night fell over the park where the group had arrived, a particularly foul crusader issued forth.

Assassin appeared suddenly, emerging from the shadows like a figure coming out of thick fog. He moved up onto the hill that they had first come out on walking in a noiseless crouch. The body of the woman had been discovered, it seemed, and the ground where she had fallen had been fenced off with yellow tape, a white outline sketched over where she had lain. It was lucky that no police still lingered for if they had they would have surely been killed by the crooked man in black who slunk through the darkness. He walked over to where they had first stood and stopped. "Maugus. I have returned as per your instructions. All is safe now." Assassins voice rang out, a deep baritone that one would not have suspected from his thin frame were they to see it.

After a few seconds the ground began to churn and bubble slightly as it grew dark. Then a black bulge formed out of the ground and slowly rose higher and higher. The old man from the church in the black kimmono was rising out of the ground.

"Zoken Matou" the Black clad Servant said slowly as the last bit of him rose out of the earth. Zoken grunted and nearly fell forward. Assassin moved to his side and steadied him. "That was dangerous earlier today. Are you healed?"

"Not entirely. I'm afraid the sun does not agree with my skin like it use to. I should be well enough to move." The old man's voice was also deep, though it was more gravely than that of his Servant. "For now we must find a place to rest for the night. You will have to procure your own Mana for tonight." The old man chuckled softly before coughing.

Slowly (But faster than you would expect from a man in Zoken's condition) the two made their way out of the park. After a little the old man began to walk on his own, his gnarled cane taping on the ground as he made his way out of the park. Assassin melted invisibly into the shadows behind him. They made there way into the city together where even this late at night there were people walking the streets in ones and twos.

Zoken walked on like this for several blocks, his bones creaking as the city loomed around him..As he stopped by an alley and leaned against the wall a man approached him. The man was big and wearing a black shirt with some strange symbol emblazoned on it in white. _Hmm. He could be useful. _"Young man" Zoken said addressing him in his softest tone as he went by. "I seem to have become lost I am afraid, could you direct me to the nearest residential area?"

"The nearest...residential...area?" the man said stopping and looking at him like he was crazy.

"Did you not hear me the first time!" Zoken spat impacently.

The man looked at him for a little not knowing what to make of the unspecific request. "Well... the nearest residential zone would be the Qualin Vista about 9 blocks that way." he said pointing down the road.

"Ah thank you young man. Here, If you would be kind enough to take my arm..."

After a little hesitation the man walked forward to oblige him. His hand never reached Zoken. As soon as he neared the entrance to the alley Assassins black hand shot out and yanked him into the darkness. The man never even had time to scream.

Mauto Zoken listened expressionlessly as Assassin slit the mans throat and then proceeded to devour his life force.

Zoken set out into the night a few moments later in the direction that the man had pointed. A Mana sated Assassin following him.

*Scene *****

Hurie Phenelop was pealing potatoes into the sink when there was a soft knock on the door. She sighed " Always when my hands are wet... Honey could you get that?" she called out.

"Just a minute."came the voice of her husband. A few moments later she heard him open the door. "Uh... Hello? Do you need something Sir?" Hurie recognized surprise in his voice and wondered who it could be.

A deep, dark gravelly voice of an old man answered "Yes. I am sorry to intrude but have recently gotten lost and I cant find my way back. I was wondering if I could stop and rest for a moment."

"Uuumm...of course. Come on in, take my hand."

Hiurie put down the potato and quickly dried her hands. Akio was not the most generous person and she could hear a hint of strain in his voice that was rarely present. Whoever was at the door really must be in dire straights.

Walking over into the living room she entered to see her husband helping one of the most decrepit old men she had ever seen in her life into the house. His skin was loose and pallid, while the man was short and skinny. He somehow reminded her of an solitary fence post, rotting away in a dreary field.

She walked over to guided him to a cushioned chair but somehow couldn't bring herself to touch the man, he smelled very strange, like meat left out to long. Akio lead him over with his arm instead, his nose wrinkling at the smell.

The old man sat down and as he did Hiurie faintly registered that something large and black had entered the house through the still open front door behind her. The notion disappeared as soon as it came leaving her wondering what she had started at. Nevertheless she turned and closed the door firmly, locking it double.

"Now, what is the problem Mr. do you need us to call someone to come and get you?" Hiuries husband asked.

"hhuumm, for now I would prefer to just sit a moment if you don't mind." The old man replied.

"Of course." Hiuri said feinting happiness and smiling at him.

"Good." the old man rasped out and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. Hiuri and her husband stood there looking at him uncomfortably for a moment, before her husband turned to her. "Get a glass of water for him will you?"

She nodded and turned to get it. Her young son Hibiki was standing in hall peering into the room at the old man in curiosity. "Mommy who is that?" he chimed.

"Not now Hibi go to you room and stay there for a little. And for heavens sake wipe your nose!"

She returned a few seconds later, glass of water in hand. The old man was conversing with her husband who was looking unnerved at the mans questions.

"So you tell me that it you live here, just the three of you eh?" he pressed in his grating voice.

"Yes, yes Sir we do but I really don't think that this is the time for that, why don't you tell us where you live and then we can call someone to help you?"

"In a moment, In a moment, don't be hasty. It was very good of you to take me in I must say, and for your kindness I would like to tell you a story."

Aiko raised his eyebrows "I'm not sure that this is the time for-"

"Nonsense young man." The stranger cut him off. "I am going to tell you something and that means you **listen!**" He said it so forcefully in such a booming base of a voice that Aiko stopped trying to offer suggestions and looked at him questioningly.

"Good" The old man whispered softly "Now, a long time ago in a kingdom in the air there was a cup of stone. And in that cup was contained all the many whispering winds of the world. All secrets uttered in the world were eventually caught on those winds and returned to the cup."

As the old man spoke Hiuri suddenly realized that what he was saying was incredibly fascinating, even though it didn't make sense. She found herself forgetting how strange the entire situation was, in fact it made a lot of sense if you thought about it... if you thought about it.

The old man droned on "-but the cup never let any secrets back out once they had come to rest in it. No mater how many whispers were caught on the winds the goblet of stone released not one. Time passed and the creatures that creep and swim though the heavens guarded the cup zealously from any who would try to drink from it."

Hiuri and Aiko were siting on the ground now, like children listening to a teacher read a story in school, they looked up at him with wondrous eyes. Hiuri sat there content to listen to the old mans raspy voice. It was doing strange things to her she realized vaguely. The carpet seemed to writhe all around her and her husband like it was covered in snakes, though she only noticed out of the corner of her eye.

As the old man went on she realized that she couldn't really understand what he was saying anymore, not that it mattered of course, the important thing was the meaning of the story as a whole rather than any one point. That was what they had said back when she was in school wasn't it? School... she felt her feet and legs going numb, she really hadn't sat cross legged in a while. She moved to adjust her legs but found that she could not. Instead she was falling backwards onto a carpet of something soft. She lay there serenely looking up at the ceiling as she felt things move and twist underneath her. Her back was going numb. She looked sideways and received a dull shock, the floor of the living room was covered in gigantic purple worms that were crawling all over everything. Hiuri felt a twinge of fear at the sight but only a small one, she was covered in worms herself, what should it matter if there were a few on the carpet? Only when they begun to bite did she awaken briefly from her stupor, and by then it was to late.

The old man had many questions and they stayed up late answering all of them, some were very strange questions indeed, "What is the TSAB?" was a particularly odd one but neither Hiuri nor her Husband nor their Son minded much, their minds submerged in worms and darkness.


	7. Chapter 7 Mobilisation

Ch 7: Mobilization

Hayate walked through the Central Office of Criminal investigations flanked by Signum and Fate. Together with Teana and a couple of other enforcers they made quite an imposing group striding silently down the hallway together. Turning a couple of corners in the blue tiled building they eventually came to a door marked 'private' in white letters. A guard at the door nodded to them and as they approached he opened it gesturing inside.

The room was a typical TSAB government meeting room, wide with a long triangular table in the middle. The floor, walls and ceiling were all made of the all pervading blue tile that the TSAB seemed to favor in their facility's, it gave the room something of a sterile tone that was enhanced rather than lessened by the fake potted plant in the corner.

The table was already half full. Various government and law enforcement officials sat around talking in low voices to each other. They stopped and greeted Hayate and her friends as they entered, some more enthusiastic than others. From a seat near the end of the table Carim Gracia waved at them, she was siting in between another Saint Church Knight and her half brother Verossa Acous, who was dressed in his typical white suit.

Sitting down at the table together they filled in a considerable portion of the empty seats.

"Good to see you here Colonel Hayate, Captain Harlaown" said a man in a high ranking uniform, who nodded to them respectfully. "Are we all here?"

"Not yet Sir, we are still waiting for Inspector Leon, he will be giving us the full report." Replied a man with a clipboard at the front end of the table.

"Very well, if he is not here in the next 5 minutes send somebody to find him please, we are on a tight schedule."

"Sir."

Hayate sat down in her seat and laid her arms on the table as Fate and Signum took the chairs on either side of her. In the past few days everything had changed. Only five days ago she had been working on a rather tricky case of fraud involving 19 million credits and a pair of Lost Logia earrings. She hadn't even been away for the case, conducting most of the investigation from her office close to home and communicating through a telicam.

Then abruptly one day there had been three murders reported on the news all in swift succession. After that it had exploded going from a string of murders to a fully fledged crisis in the space of five days. The new incident gained momentum quickly, faster than any other Hayate had ever heard of in fact. By the fourth day she had been called up to take command of the investigation, her past record as the commander of the Strikers during the Scaglietti incident and her many other exploits had apparently given her a reputation as one of the best investigators in the TSAB and the person to turn to when people were being killed en mass by criminals unknown.

It was an abrupt end to her rather slow paced peaceful work that she had been doing for the past few months and she was still a little out of sorts. That was what this conference was for though, the official introduction to the incident and the beginning of her investigation proper.

As she though of what might be going on the door opened again and a rather scrawny dark haired man in an investigators uniform stepped into the room carrying a binder. He had small, narrow but very piercing blue eye's set in a face so sharp it reminded one of a hawk and suggested intense focus.

"Good to see you join us Mr Amano." Said one of the men at the table as he sat down. "Now that we are all here we will begin. First, although most of us know of each other I believe that an introduction is in order. I am Famill Ligure head of public security in this district."

"Lieutenant Colonel Hayate Yagami, Commissioned Officer and head of investigation." Said Hayate her face set in one of her rare grim expressions.

"Sergeant Major Reinforce, Investigation assistant" Chimed the tiny girl by her elbow cheerfully. Some of the men around the table could not help smiling a little at the extremely high pitched voice declaring itself a Sergeant Major in such a happy tone.

"First Lieutenant Signum" Signum called out evenly.

"Fate Harlaown, Head Enforcer of the Incident."

"Enforcer Teana Lanster, First Enforcer." Teana announced in her most business like manner. Although Tenea was nowhere near as tense as she use to be, Hayate could not but help note that she somtimes still tried to project a overly profesional image. It would have made her smile were it another time.

They went around the table one by one introducing the district chief of police, Carim Gracia (Who represented the Saint Church as well as the TSAB High Board of Directors) and several other officials and enforcers who were to be part of the case. After reaching Inspector Leon Amano he introduced himself as the previous leader of investigations.

"Very well" Famill said after the introductions had gone all the way around. "As you all know, in the past 5 days there have been a extrapolating series of gruesome murders and peculiar assaults. It is likely that all of you are familiar with most of the events, however in the interest of the investigation we will begin by reviewing from the ground up the complete list of reported crimes in the city for the past week. When the first Murder report came in Detective Leon was assigned to what was believed to be a isolated incident, he and his team have followed the incident carefully since the first murder. Detective?"

"Thank you Director" Leon said standing and opening his binder " Lady's and Gentlemen, as you know murder and assault has been happening almost daily for the past five days. As of now there are nearly 30 people dead, catatonic or missing." He said addressing the crowd sharply "Criminal psychology would normally suggest that whoever is doing this will soon stop and lay low for a while before striking again but so far if we can be certain of anything it is that these are not normal criminals or even terrorists, therefore I will make this as quick as possible before more civilians risk the possibility of becoming victims.

As the chief said most of you are familiar with most of the murders by now, however some details of the crimes were left out of the news and were unspecified in the briefing reports. I am also here to inform you completely of these important oddity's as well as of the situation in full."

Everyone in the room was dead silent as they looked up at him from their seats, Hayate and her friends, usually a cheerful lot were now in complete work mode, serious as the most humorless people you could acount for.

Leon gestured to the air behind him and a large telicam appeared displaying a map of the city with a red dot on it. "7 days ago there was a reported break in at a corner store by Opelie Rd. We do not think that it is connected with the case as it appears to have been little more than common theft but we have documented it none the less." With that Leon gestured behind him again and another telicam opened up next to the map, it was a file display of a fair haired woman, her face smiling slightly as it looked into the camera, paragraphs of text covering the space next to her.

"Five days ago on the 13th at St Chauntcure Park a woman by the name of Esme Leimsby was found dead at 1:30 in the afternoon, her body was taken back to the morgue and a simple analysis reveled that her body had been seared with fatal amounts of something like magical energy. Here is where things start to get weird. Whatever it was it was slightly unusual, not really matching up with conventional magical blasts. Besides this, the amount of magic required for a fatal dose would have left traces in the air for hours if not days afterward, when the Esme was discovered the only thing that could be found was minute traces left in her chest area suggesting that minimal energy was used to kill her."

"That is slightly odd" Hayate conceded after Leon paused a bit. "But such things could have been accomplished if the Mage involved was particularly efficient or skilled."

"True, that is what we presumed at first, however in light of the other oddity's accompanying the other murders this cannot be ignored." Leon explained. "We were unable to garner any other clues from the body or murder sight and as of now the exact means or reasons of her death can only be guessed at. However, as will soon become clear whoever is responsible for the murders is extremely ruthless. As the victim has no criminal record and was a faithful employee of a local bank, with two children I believe that we can safely assume that Esme Leimsby saw something she was not suppose to and payed for it with her life."

As Leon spoke the last bit Fate felt herself clench her fist even as her face remained calm. The idea of someone killing an innocent woman, possibly for no other reason than to keep her quiet made a ripple of fury run down her arm. A veteran Enforcer of many years now the blond haired woman had seen many crimes, however it was almost an unspoken rule that criminals did not normally target random people with no connections. Not unless it was a simple robbery or likewise, something this clearly was not.

"The next day" Leon continued "Six miles away from the first murder sight, the body of a man was found at Six in the morning by passerby's. We were able to identify it through fingerprints as a man named Brent Nistol, like the last victim this man had no significant criminal record to speak of, his family and friends have attested that he was coming back from a party when he went missing. "

Leon waved his hand again and the telicam with the woman's file on it changed to display a gruesome scene. Nearly everyone in the room shifted in their seats at the sight and gasps were heard. Displayed on the screen was an immense splatter of blood and shredded viscera that was completely unrecognizable as a human figure. Strewn out over the pavement of the sidewalk were what once might have been limbs or internal organs but were now so torn and misshapen that the entire thing looked like one blood-red mass of gelatin. The only recognizable thing in the mess was what looked to be the shattered and twisted remains of half a human arm that lay a few feet away from the rest of the pile. Whatever had done it had cracked the pavement beneath its victim nearly splitting the sidewalk in half, the poor mans blood had ran down into the crack that the perpetrator had made.

Hayate felt herself go slightly pail and sensed both her friends tense beside her, she had seen murders before, some pretty bad murders in fact but nothing she had ever seen compared to this. _It looks more like what an industrial accident might look like _She thought to herself _Whoever did this must have used something ridiculous to do it. Or had no control over their power whatsoever... Why though?_

"As you can see" Leon said cutting across everyone's thoughts " Whatever did this wielded quite a bit of power, however not even the slightest traces of magic were found anywhere near the crime scene so whatever it was was purely physical in nature."

There were murmurs across the room at that. Non magical crime was not rare (Well actually it was still much more common that magical crime) but this? I was like something out of a bad horror/gore film.

"And it was done with no thought to subtlety." Leon went on "This is almost certainly not the work of a Mage or if it is we are dealing with a very unstable individual. The means of death and the lack of Magic involved suggest this to be the work of either a extremely vicious band of thugs wanting to make an impression or a large battle bot. For the first possibility a band of murderers would have posted some kind of message if they wanted to induce fear, for the later however it would be nearly impossible for someone to bring a battle bot into the city without being detected and the reasons for using one to infiltrate a city are inconceivable. Almost everything about this murder remains a mystery however... the lack of practicality in such an crime in the first place suggests the actions of a psychopath."

Leon stopped there and gazed across the room. Many of the occupants of the table were looking rather unnerved, including (to his surprise) Cornal Hayate. That was bad. Many of the people at the table were veterans of some of the most dangerous incidents that had hit Mid- Childa in the past 50 years. If even they found this overly disturbing... _not good._

"Furthermore the complete difference in method between this Murder and the one earlier almost prove that they were perpetrated by two completely different groups. We could discuss this particular case for half an hour but we must move on." The telicam changed again to a picture of a body in an alley and another file of a man frowning into the camera.

"Only a few hours after the second body was found, the corpse of this man was discovered only 2 miles away from the body of Eseme Leimsby, his throat was slit. We would go over this quickly however it is the first murder that was accompanied by a strange twist. Upon analysis in the morgue it was revealed that the mans linker core was damaged somehow."

Hayate tensed at that "Please specify what you mean by 'damaged' Detective."

"It was as if someone had taken out parts of the mans linker core yet left the rest untouched. The body also showed signs of physical trauma unrelated to the cut Jugular vein. We have been unable to determine what caused it however, though it seemed to be related to nerve damage across the entire body."

"How odd" Hayate commented. She was more than familiar with Linker Core theft and someone doing it brought a weird feeling, like she might be watching something like what her friends had gone through when they had fought each other all those years ago. The incident here was completely different of course but it was still oddly chilling to hear.

"The day that the two body's were found, the 14th, there were no more murders that we know of, however a report of motorcycle theft was brought in by a man by the name of Gregory Feldwits. During the report however he had something of a fainting spell, although he insisted that he was okay at first one thing led to another and in the end he was checked into the hospital for the day. What they found was alarming. The man was suffering moderate blood loss from two small puncture wounds in his neck."

If the statement would have been met with laughs in other groups it was not here, perhaps if it had come before the report of the man who was smeared out all over the sidewalk it might have received a more skeptical reaction. As it was all that it got were a few raised eyebrows.

"In addition to this" Leon went on rather glad that he hadn't been interrupted by stupid comments like 'you mean like a vampire? Ha!' "The man was found to be suffering from the same Linker Core damage that the victim in the alley was, including the strange physical trauma. When questioned further he stated that he was getting on to his bike when a woman hit him from behind. He was unable to describe his aggressor despite the fact that he claimed to have gotten a good look at her. The only detail that he claims to be able to remember was that it she was wearing dark glasses. We have found nothing more from this case so far, but the mans motorcycle has evidently been stolen and has yet to be recovered."

Leon paused to rearrange his notes "The next day, the 15th no murders took place, however a missing child report was turned in by Elisibeth Hewit, her son Daniel Hewit never came back from school even though school staff saw him leave normally. He has yet to be located, however due to the current events and later incidents of missing children I fear we must assume the the worst."

Hayate was shocked but Fate was worse. "Detective, how many cases of children disappearing have there been in the past five days?" She demanded sharply.

Leon surveyed her carefully before answering "All told in the past five days there have been seven reported incidents of missing children all within the ages of seven to thirteen years old and one report of a missing girl who was sixteen. At this point it is almost a certainty that whatever is out there is preying on children regularly."

Fate clenched her hands into fists and felt her face contort. "That is... unforgivable." she made out slowly. Harming children had always been one thing that she had considered to be among the most vile of crimes, and now there was somebody kidnapping children indiscriminately, for what reason she did not know. _Whoever is responsible I will see them brought justice _She intoned to herself fiercely.

Several people around the table nodded in agreement at her bitter statement.

"Enforcer Harlaown, I admire your zeal but we must continue." Leon said carefully, he hesitated to sound reprimanding to a veteran of so many incidents but Fate just nodded at him.

"On the 16th three people were discovered unconscious at a corner store in the morning when the day shift arrived to open shop. They were the night-shift employes from the day before, two of them were in comas and the third was dead, medical analysis suggests that they suffocated, the incident might have been the results of a gas leak except for one important fact, all three were suffering from the same Linker Core damage that the two previous victims had. So far the doctors have been unable to revive the two who are still in a cationic state. Later that day the next two missing child reports came in in a different neighborhood.

"On the 17th a party of nine people at a late night meeting in a office skyscraper were found in almost exactly the same condition as the three victims in the corner store, however two of them had been stabbed in the chest with some kind of mass based dagger or sword like weapon. The two who were stabbed were dead as were two others who apparently died of suffocation. The six survivors are all in cationic states, all of them suffer from the same Linker Core corruption that the others did."

"Later in the day a TSAB navy warrant officer went missing. At first he was considered absent without leave however due to the mans steady record and the current situation we have now changed his status to MIA."

"Yesterday morning ten people were found comatose with another seven dead in an apartment complex. All shared the symptoms of Linker Core removal and partial or complete suffocation. Finally last night a police officer was discovered dead in a parking garage by the East Waterfront, his chest had been pierced and his heart impaled by a large mass weapon, from the analysis of the body the Morticians determined from the wound that whatever was used was barbed to ensure maximum blood loss from wounds given. Due to the size of the puncture they estimate that the murder weapon was either a heavily serrated sword or similar bladed mass weapon.

"So far that has been the last reported murder or assault case however yesterday morning in a parking lot it was discovered that several cars had been crushed and a streetlight had been knocked over."

The telescreen changed to reveal a small scene of carnage, in the space of about an 20 foot radius cars had been thrown about like leaves, some were squashed or turned upside down but one or two had been pummeled into scrap and another had clearly been torn in half in the middle. The street light was a twisted snake of wrecked steel on the ground looking like some great giant had tried to play it like an accordion.

"As you can see" Leon said pointing to various parts of the picture like a schoolteacher to his students "Whatever did this used a great deal of physical strength to incur this damage as, again, no magical energy traces were detected at the crime scene. It is quite probable that whatever did this was the same culprit responsible for the murder of Brent Nistol. Furthermore the lack of a body or apparent motive suggests that either a scuffle happened in which the other party escaped or that the culprit had no motive for his carnage at all." Leon paused and the telicam with the picture disappeared while the map grew to fill the entire space. It was now crisscrossed with red dots representing the different crime scenes.

"So far these have been all of the reported crimes as well as the estimated locations of the children's disappearance, so far we can see that the crimes seem to be entirely random strikes against civilians, some of them appear to be done to silence individuals however others are clearly attacks, due to the fact that many of the victims are still alive we must assume that killing them was not the primary motive of their attacker but rather the partial linker core harvesting that the mass attacks have been accompanied by. Due to the extremely wide radius of attacks and the many different methods used we can safely assume that there are at least 3 groups at work here. One responsible for the murder of Brent Nistol and the parking lot vandalism, one responsible for the murder of the victim in the alley and the police officer in the parking Garage and one responsible for the murder of Eseme Leimsby and the many mass attacks as well as the disappearance of the children. There may be more groups than this or fewer but at present we must assume that there are at least three, and a bare minimum of two."

Leon waved the telicams away and closed his binder getting ready to pass the torch on. Before he sat down however he looked back up at the people siting around the table. "Before I go... " he said his voice carrying an edge of emotion for the first time in the briefing. "I just want to say... whatever the ultimate purpose of the criminals, they are working in a way that suggests we are dealing with either complete monsters or total madmen... this is the worst thing that has happened since the Mirage incident... no since the Scaglietti incident itself. But I know that we have the TSAB's finest working to stop whatever is out there... I will await new's of the perpetrators being brought to justice with no unsure heart." He finished with a deep bow in Fate and Hayates direction and then turned to sit down.

There was a small moment in which no one spoke. It was quickly ended by Hayate, her voice steady and strong as it cut though the scilence.

"Thank you Mr Amano, I promise you that we will not rest until these criminals are brought to justice and made to answer for the lives they have destroyed." It was announced with such conviction that everyone in the room nodded solemnly as Hayate stood and walked to the front of the room where Leon had stood only a moment before. " Very well. Before anything I take it that those who have been hospitalized are under guard?" Hayate asked turning to the chief of police. She was in complete investigation mode now and no one who did not know her would have ever suspected that she was a kind and soft-spoken individual most of the time.

"Of course Lieutenant" the man replied quickly. "The hospital that is housing them is being guarded by a squad of Ground Forces soldiers as well as a section of reserve Law Enforcement officers."

"Very good Chief, now the next thing I want are immediate and regular police patrols of all routs between residential areas and streets used by children to go to and from school. Furthermore all schoolchildren in elementary levels are to be escorted home by an adult, effective immediately."

The Police Cheif nodded "That will take time to organize but we should be able to pull it of by the end of today."

Hayate nodded back " Use all resources available to you to see it done. Now all Enforcer and emergency response teams present in the sector are to go on high alert immediately. Any crime report is to be treated as a full scale emergency and receive class 3 combat priority, we can tell from the first murder that at least some of the criminals have magical powers even if it looks like many are simply using mass weapons. Therefore they are not to be engaged unless at least a rank C Mage is present unless it becomes clear that they posses no Magical power."

"Lieutenant, there are only 4 functional Enforcer teams currently ready for action in Central Cranagan." One of the Enforcers at the table said.

"I will contact the Central Magical Law Enforcement department and have them send us as many Enforcers and Combat Mage teams as they can. We have an active incident going on here, every Enforcer or Armed Forces officer within 5 districts should be assigned to caching these terrorists. Fate, you will focus on tracking down whoever is behind the mass civilian attacks, commission whoever you want to, find them and take them down quickly."

Fate nodded sharply.

"Teana, you will search for the one's that are using the mass weapons, it will be hard because they probably wont be using magic but it wont be the first time that you have tracked down a difficult target. As for me I will search for the one's using the Combat Robot. I have some skill with tracking down machines." Hayate looked around the room. _Am I forgetting anything? _The thought had always tormented her right before she gave the order to move. This time though it was deep. They knew so little. But hadn't it been that way years before when they had faced Jail?

"Well... lets get to work then." Hayate said pulling herself out of her internal reflection. There was no time for agonizing, people were dieing and it was up to them to stop them.

The enforcers and other law enforcement officials nearly fell over themselves in their haste to move. It made Hayate smile to see such enthusiasm. Whoever was out there was going to rue the day that they decided to attack civilians under the TSAB's protection, she would see to it.

*Scene *

Vita slammed her fist own on the desk in rage "That's not how it happened! The Belkans **creamed** the Lamandirans! There is no way that the Primary Belkan Battle fleet would loose just because of a little flanking maneuver like that!" she screamed at the boy on the telicam. On the other side of the telicam the 17 year old teenager was making a mental note to never play Dimensional conquest 2 with a eight year old girl again.

"Okay look little girl, you left your flanks completely unprotected!" The boy retorted angrily. "Plus you never even researched logistics above level three, how did you expect to beat me if you're own fleet cant even coordinate itself?"

Vita ground her teeth and fought the urge to smash the entertainment devise that was projecting their game into the air. "It doesn't mater" she ground out. "The Belkans had the strongest ships in the multiverse we would have punched straight through you're pathetic little blockade and then turned around and blasted you're flanker into oblivion, this stupid game is obviously very flawed and your victory is nothing but a hitch in a system designed by people who didn't understand or care about history."

The boy gave her an indignant glare "You're just saying that because you have no grasp of game tactics whatsoever, and for your information this game was lauded for its historical accuracy by several experts in the subject of ancient fleet combat."

"Whatever, like I care about a stupid video game anyway. And by the way I'm older than you." Vita said dismissively turning the telicam off as well as the game as soon as she finished. The boys skeptical expression disappeared into thin air along with the Lamandrian battle fleet that had been standing triumphantly among the ruins of her wrecked ships.

Vita hoped off her chair and walked sullenly into the living room. She liked that game and always beat the computer, so why was it she always lost when she played another person? _Stupid nerds_. _Probably never even smashed a toy robot in their lives. _

Shamal was washing dishes when she entered and Agito was watching the TV grimly. More newsmen telling people to keep their doors locked at night.

"Were you playing that game live again?" Shamal asked as she walked in grumbling.

"Yeah" she snorted "I didn't really loose though this time, he was cheating like crazy to try and overcome my power advantage, no grasp of tactics either, dumb kid. Immature to" she tacked on for good measure.

"Again? Maybe you should just stop playing that game altogether it seems like every person you play with cheats to beat you." Shamal said sympathetically

Vita grunted in response and turned to look at the TV. "Hmp Hayate is on their case now people" she said talking to the newsman's head who was warning of the dangers of going out at night "In a few days she's gonna sort all this out, then those creeps heads will roll." Vita said smugly yet frowning at the same time.

Shamal walked over and patted Vita on the shoulder. "I know how much you want to be out there."

"Damn strait, I want to find whoever made that mess down on 8th street and kick them around a little, introduce them to Graf Eisen before some dumb pacifist Enforcer team takes em down by shooting them in the back."

"Well, Hayate will return soon, and she will probably want us to join the investigation. It's not every day that an incident like this comes along." Shamal said soothingly.

Vita just grunted again and plopped down on the floor to watch the TV with Agito. She recalled a time when she would do this with Hayate and they would sit together and laugh at whatever was on TV for what seemed like hours. Now though her beloved Mistress was busy more and more, so was she as a TSAB officer and they did not see each other as much as Vita wanted. _Hayate is growing up_. She thought with a hint of bitterness.

An hour later Signum came in the door with Zafira trailing behind her in wolf form.

Vita looked up at her as she walked in "Well boob monster any news?"

Signum didn't answer immediately instead closing the door behind her and telling Agito to turn the TV off. "Yes" she answered once Shamal had joined them in the room. "This Incident looks to be a particularly difficult case, Zafira, Vita and I will be leading Enforcer teams and doing independent patrols. We are to engage and arrest any suspects on sight. Misstres Hayate will fill you in on the details. Move out."

Vita Grinned and clutched Graf Einsen, another incident to help Hayate in. As she waited for Shamal to lock up the house she swung the deceptively small Crockett mallet around a couple of time's. This would be just like the old days, and this time she would see to it that none of her friends got hurt. Getting hurt would be solely reserved for the bad guy's.

*Scene *

Hayate sat at her desk answering telicams in the temporary headquarters that had been set up for her in the Central Office of Criminal Investigations. They were thinking of transferring her to another location or even back to the old Riot Force 6 headquarters if things became more dangerous. As it was her staff was still coming in piecemeal, the higher ups seemed to be trying to fit her with the best however so she was not complaining, the TSAB board of directors wanted this Incident over as fast as possible and they seemed to be trying to fit her with people she had worked with before. So it was that when **SharioFinieno **walked in the door along with her Wolkenritter that she had been expecting, she was not as surprised as she might have been.

"**Shario!**"she nearly squealed as the long brown haired girl walked in besides Shamal.

"Hello Hayate its been a long time hasn't it?" Shario said brightly as she approached her desk.

Hayate jumped up and embraced Shario who hugged her back more sedately.

"How did you get assigned to this?" Hayate asked as she clasped her old friend's hand warmly, her eyes wide.

"Well I became a Investigator after the Scagettie Incident and when they heard that I was in the area they assigned me to you almost before I realized what was happening, I only got assigned to this case yesterday. I am suppose to be your secondary aid now."

"Eh? Well it will be good to have you helping me that's for sure." Hayates tone went lower "Have they briefed you on the Incident yet."

"Oh... yes they did, this one is really bad. We will have to work extra hard just to protect the public this time." Shario said sadly.

"Well it wont get any easier if we stand around talking will it?" Came Vita sounding rather impatient. She had been quite happy to see Shario again herself on the way up but was getting tired of all the delays.

"Ah my friends!." Hayate said turning her attention to the Wolkenritter, "You haven't gotten the entire briefing yet but you have gotten reports from the news and from alerts given to all TSAB officers. Right now we are in search and subdue mode. Vita, I need you to go to the the training headquarters and round up anyone who was assigned to us, get them into teams and bring them back here. There should be quite a few of them. Nanoha will be there. Signum, Agito, you will be a patrol group of your own." She handed them a file. "Your rout should be on that. Shamal I need you to go to the Crannigan central hospital and see what you can do for the victims there, we can heal them then we might be able to get descriptions of the culprits. Zafira, I want you to go meet up with the team that's in charge of searching for the lost children, they should have their scents available from article's of clothing, see if you can track them down. "

Hayate stopped and surveyed her family, dropping her air of command the smiled warmly at them but was suddenly struck with a sense of foreboding. Vita was looking at her with adoration shining in her eyes.

"Be careful."she gushed out "Whoever these people are they are really ruthless... worse in some ways than even Scagettie was... even if they aren't combat cyborgs... watch yourselves."

"Heh!" Vita declared "Just because they are cowardly enough to attack civilians and abduct children doesn't mean they have a spine. We are going to find them and bring back those kids! Another set of creeps is about to learn to fear Hayate and her Wolkenritter!"

Signum said nothing but nodded slightly.

Hayate smiled at Vita again "Try not to hurt them to much, and good luck."

The Wolkenwritter and filed out of the office leaving Shario, reinforce and Hayate standing there looking after them.

Signum headed to the roof with Agito and Zafira right behind her.

Vita took a different route to the roof, she was in a good mood. Grim. But Good. It was a feeling of righteous purpose, Vita felt like she had spent the last few months idle, doing paperwork at her desk in the enforcer office had dropped her life into a dull routine. But now there was a chance to apply her real skill's! Above all though Hayate was counting on her and that was enough. She would enjoy demonstrating what happened to criminals who kidnapped children and upset her Mistress.

*Scene *

In front of the immense building that was the TSAB Enforcer Training headquarters a short woman in a white shirt and long blue skirt stood. She was gazing up at the TSAB coat of arms that hung over the entrance with a cool kind of speculation that suggested she was rather unimpressed with it. After looking for a little the short woman stepped inside the building.

Saber walked across the expanse of the lobby past various men in TSAB Armed Forces uniforms who were moving quickly to and fro across the blue tiled floor. Moving through the crowd she walked up to the desk situated in the back of the lobby. At the desk were several men and a younger woman who were busy either speaking to people over the counter or talking among themselves behind it.

In the past 5 days they had made frustratingly little progress in the Blue Knights opinion. After finding a money exchanging facility Will had rented a small apartment and they had set out to get the hang of the city together.

Whatever Will had been expecting this place continued to catch him of guard. After immediate arrival they had been working under the assumption that the TSAB was a Mages Guild type organization that worked behind the scenes, unknown to the public people. It had come as quite a shock then when, during a very awkward conversation with a grocery store customer service employee, he realized that that the TSAB was literally a household name. Diving a little deeper Will had had his brain dashed upon the inevitable reef of common knowledge in Mid-Childa. Magic, the great secret, the eternal masquerade which could never be reviled upon pain of death, was known to **everybody in the entire city**. Not only this but Magic was so common as to not even raise eyebrows when mentioned, apparently it was so all prevalent that it had been nearly fully incorporated into everyday business. The conversation had ended with the customer service employee looking at Will like he was crazy while he power walked out of the store hyperventilating. ( Funnily enough over that day and the next there were quite a few conversations like that all over the city between the crusaders and various bystander's. Most of them ended the same way to)

That little detail had changed their perspective a lot, however after a quick discussion (that had only taken place after a minor panic attack on Wills part behind closed doors) they both agreed that in all probability the populace knew nothing about the Grail and would be treated as innocent's to be protected rather than enemy's to be punished. Unfortunately Saber was certain that not all Masters and Servant's would reach the same conclusion.

Continuing to explore the city with new eyes they discovered that it was a very peaceful place. Even Fuyuki city without the Grail War going on lacked the subtle feeling that this city presented. Not one of serenity, it was a city like any other, loud, busy and fast paced, but one of security. It was sense that things like murder, robbery and invasions by ancient warrior spirit Immortals just didn't happen with the same frequency that they did everywhere else (Except for the last example of course). In short it was a city where people let there kids walk home from school and play down the street unattended. It was a city where, in most places, you could walk down any dark alley at night that you felt like without fear.

Thus it was, that Will could not help but feel a little twinge of guilt as they watched that feeling evaporate before their eyes over the course of the next few days. By the third day something had clearly upset the peace. By the 4th it was apparent in the way people hurried about their business without looking at each other, eyes cast low to the ground that an atmosphere of fear had suddenly invaded the city. It did not take much detective work on their part to figure out the reason behind this. The newspapers in the city were busy printed out headlines of 'Gruesome Murder stuns quiet neighborhood!', 'Another child reported missing today in a string of strange disappearances' and 'Mysterious assailant attacks Apartment complex!'.

"This is terrible." Will said leaning against the wall of their small apartment and rubbing the bridge of his nose as was his habit when stressed. "I realized that Servants would sometimes feed on humans or silence them... but this?"

Saber regarded him carefully, they had had only one conversation about devouring people before during which he had referred to it as "Something a vampire would do, not me." She had been satisfied with his answer but had failed to warn him that other Servants and Masters would think nothing of it and likely attack as many people as possible to bolster their power.

"This is likely the handiwork of the Casters. In the previous wars both of them chose to pray on the innocent populace to expand their might. From the looks of it that is happening again. We should move quickly to stop them."

Will continued to rub the bridge of his nose without looking up. When he did reply it was to change the subject. "So far we have learned a little more about the city... but we have yet to learn anything about the location of the Grail or the TSAB's strength. We should try to find a TSAB place of management. If they really are practically the government here then we should learn as much about their surface dealings as possible."

Saber frowned "Master, Should we not first focus on the more honorable task at hand? If we ignore the plight of the innocent then we are little better than the ones who prey on them."

Will didn't answer, he appeared to be deep in thought. "No" he said after a while "I realize that you want to kill that Blue beard character and save the people but we simply cant start killing each other off when we haven even begun to fight the real enemy. If the Grail summoned this many people to reclaim it then it is because we will need that many people to do so."

Saber's frown deepened "Master, surly you cant mean to suggest that Caster and Bluebeard are so essential to the Crusade that we would stand by and permit them to continue in their villainy!"

Will looked like he was struggling with something in his mouth. "No. A few days ago I would have agreed to do it, but now we find out that the TSAB is much bigger than we though. If an entire planet wide Mages organization is going to be after us then we have to focus on obtaining the Grail and disorientating them before we get swamped with TSAB mages.

Saber frowned "Master, If we leave Caster and Bluebeard unopposed they will only grow to be more of a problem over time. They will siphon energy out of the people around them until they grow to be unstoppable."

Will looked at Saber like he was struggling to make a decision.

Sensing him weakening Saber pressed on forcefully. "Pleas heed my warning, I have seen it happen before. The Caster Servant in Blue was Medea in life, she possesses a dagger which allows her to negate or take control of other Servants, if we don't remove her quickly then we may find ourselves fighting her alone."

"How would we find her? You said yourself that aside from the Assassin class the Caster was the most difficult to track down."

Sabers heart fell as he continued looking more sure of his decision as he went on. "If the Medea chick keeps attacking the public she will become the main target off the TSAB, they probably have better means of tracking her than we do with a planet full of Mages at their disposal. If the TSAB catch on to her or she reveals her position we will confront her, but I am not about to go looking for her now, she could be anywhere." Will finished with a sort of guilty conviction.

Saber felt suddenly angry with him. There **was** a logic to his argument but that only increased her ire, she could not help compare Shiro who would have immediately set out with her to bring Caster to justice. Instead Will preferred to hide behind the excuse of a tactical advantage and use logic as his shield against inconvenient honor.

"Please reconsider Master, I fear that you are making a most grievous error." Saber said urgently.

Will looked uncomfortable but answered firmly "My mind is made up."

"Well then Master... you have made your choice."

After that they set about planing, Will wanted to try and steal information on the Grails location but Saber replied that they did not know where that information was being held and that they would likely have to break into several heavily guarded buildings before they could get anything. "At that point" Saber said " they would likely guess our intent and move the information or reinforce their positions."

Instead Saber suggested that they learn more about the TSAB military before making their move.

"I could break into one of their encampments and find a report on the hunt for Caster. That would give us an idea as to the way they are trying to combat us. From that we could discern much."

"It's an idea..." Will said, then his face lit up "Or... you know what we could do?" he said suddenly. "Just go to one of their offices and ask for a tour!"

"What?" Saber asked sceptically.

"Yeah! I remember, my dad use to give people tours of his police station when they were interested, these guys strike me as the type..." Will trailed of looking pleased with himself and scratching his chin contemplatively.

"What exactly do you mean by a 'tour'?"

"Well" Will said almost humorously "From what we have learned these people are way more public then we ever suspected, they practically work like a normal government. If you go to a recruiting center and act interested in joining, they will give you information. Depending on how open these people are they may give you a run down of how they operate. It would at least start us off and show us what kind of resistance we are looking at, as well as an idea of how they use magic."

Saber narrowed her eyebrows "Master, I highly doubt that they would just give information to any strange person who asked about it. Besides I am a woman, they would have no interest in recruiting me into their military."

"That would be true if they were an ordinary army, but they are also a Mages organization, and when Magic is involved they generally employ women. Besides people have been letting Women into Military functions for a while now."

"They have what?" Saber said sounding even more disbelieving.

"Not on the front lines just in... look they would probably consider you eligible for recruitment. Just act interested and see if they offer to show you around the place, then ask some questions. What types of Magic to you use? What are you doing to stop the murders? What do you eat for breakfast? Just investigate a little and say that you want to join." Will said listing ideas of the top of his head as he went.

"Master maybe they would do this in peace time but I highly doubt that they would openly invite a strange woman into their confidence while they were being assailed by enemies among the people." Saber said cuttingly.

"Saber no offense... but you look like you are in your early 20's when you have your Armor on and are swinging your weapon around. When you are dressed like that you look like a short 19 year old." Will said pointing to her simple outfit. "They wouldn't suspect you as a enemy, they would think that you were just out of high school. At the most they will tell you that they aren't interested and send you off."

"...Very well, I will see if it can be done." Saber said sounding slightly resigned.

In the end they sniffed out what they understood to be a center of the TSAB law enforcement, it was a training facility/ academy that was surprisingly open looking.

"And what if they ask me for my qualifications as a Magus?" Saber said as Will worked on an ID at the table in their apartment. He had taken nearly everything out of his bag and was using a strange set of what looked like small paint brushes to alter an ID that they had stolen form a woman in a store (Saber had insisted that they return the purse along with suitable compensation for the trouble after taking the ID). Although the ID was clearly laminated and printed with ink, the brushes seamlessly altered the picture to resemble Saber and the names and numbers that he picked.

"Well," he said holding a large lens to his eye as he examined his work with a squinting expression.

"Just tell them that you have 23 active Magic circuits and that you can cast single verse spells with some effort, but that you could get much better if you could get proper tutelage from them. That will bate them and make them more interested in you, just act like you are eager to become better but don't know how and they will be all over you. I know, may dad spent a year as a police recruiter."

"Oh" he tacked on at the end "and if they ask say that you don't have a Thaumaturgical Crest, that will just lead into genealogy questions."

So it was that the next day Saber walked into the Enforcer training facility and approached the front desk feeling slightly silly. A state of mind that she was not very familiar with.

"Hello Miss, what can I do for you?" the man at the desk said cheerfully as she walked up.

"Hello" Saber said smiling. Unfortunately Saber was not the type of person who could smile when she did not mean it and the result was more of a exaggerated twitch at the corners of her mouth. "I was wondering if I could learn about employment in your army."

The man looked a little bemused at her statement but (To Sabers surprise)he smiled at her and said "Well that's wonderful! Goodness knows that we could use new recruits with the way that things are now. What is your name girl?"

"Argante Belcam." Saber replied she had sewn the name together only last night from names she remembered. Never one to take names lightly she had selected the first in honor of the one who kept watch over her body in Avalon and the surname after a young knight who had ridden with her against the Romans.

"Well Miss Belcam, this is perhaps not the best place to start, but you could definitely sign up here. Or if you need to think about it we have information."

"Yes please I would like to learn more about how you operate here." Saber said evenly

"Well that's just great Miss." The man said smiling "Why don't you just follow me and I could bring you to someone who could tell you more about us."

The man walked around the outside of the circular desk and beckoned Saber to follow him down one of the halls leading deeper into the building.

Floored at how smoothly that had gone Saber followed him down the hall past groups of bustling men in uniform who gave curious glances at the girl in the civilian clothing.

They walked on for a little until they came to a smaller office, opening the door the man called in "Oi Pentmin! You have a young lady here who is interested in becoming an Enforcer someday."

"Oh Really? Show her in then."

"Go on then." The man said to her "If you have questions then you'll get them here. Now if you will excuse me I need to get back to the front desk. Good luck." With that he walked of down the halls.

Saber stood outside the open door squinting after him. Had he really just escorted her into the law enforcement/ army organization center and left her unguarded?

"Come in Miss I wont bite." Came the voice from inside, reminding her that she was now expected.

Saber walked into small office, it was laid floor to floor with bookshelves on which stood various portraits of people in uniform underneath which was listed different metals and accomplishments beside the names of the occupants.

Behind a desk sat a sharp looking man in uniform who was smiling at her. "Hello, please sit down." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

Saber sat down in it and folded her hands together in her lap looking not unlike an old fashioned schoolteacher as she did so.

"I am Celto Pentmin, I have many jobs but one of them is talking to potential recruits. And your name is?"

"Argante Belcam."

"I see, and you are out of school correct?" He asked looking at her carefully.

Inside Saber's eye twitched. _Do I really look that young? I am 43 after all! _"Yes I am out of School." Saber replied, her voice betraying none of the irritation underneath it.

"I see and why may I ask, are you interested in becoming an Enforcer?"

"To defend the nation and uphold the law."

"I see, I see, and what experience do you have with the Armed Forces? Are you enrolled in an Academy?"

Saber looked at the man carefully before answering "No, I am not affiliated with the army. But I do have some experience with Magic."

The man looked surprised at that "Well... that's a start Miss. If you are interested in joining the ranks of the Enforcers then you are committing to the most elite force in the multiverse. Let me just say your journey doesn't start here. In order to become an Enforcer you have to go through an Armed Forces academy, then if the instructors take note of you or if you make it near the top of the class you'll be offered the option to become an Enforcer. But if you are interested in becoming an Enforcer down the road and you want advice then you have definitely come to the right place."

Saber paused thinking of what to do next "Yes, Thank you I have many questions."

"Fire away." Celto said gesturing to her with his hand and smiling.

"How many Enforcers use Magic to combat their enemies?" Saber asked deciding to try and get the things she needed quickly. She didn't like subterfuge, and siting there lying her head off made her feel strange. It was a job for spies, or Assassin Servants, not Sabers, and certainly not Kings.

Celto froze halfway through leaning back in his chair. His eyes darted to her face in a wide eyed expression and his smile disappeared slowly replaced by a open mouth.

After a while of silence during which the two stared at each other Saber began to frown. "Is something upsetting your stomach Mr Pentmin?" She asked sharply.

"...you're...not from around here are you?"

*Scene *

Will sat on a bench by the road a few blacks away from the Enforcer Training headquarters watching the cars go by and thinking. He was waiting for Saber to finish with her information gathering, originally he had been waiting in a corner store but after a few minutes decided that going outside would do him some good. Now siting outside in the sun on a bench the real thing that was bothering him came to the forefront of his mind.

_Did I really make the right decision about Caster? _

Every time he though about it he concluded that he had made the right decision. It was logical and the main reason that he was here was to get the grail and fight the TSAB. Caster might be nearly impossible to find at the moment, tracking was not exactly his strong suite and going after her might mean wasting untold amounts of time groping around blindly in a city he was unfamiliar with. No better to let the people who new the city and had access to a planet full of Mages sort her out. Besides weren't they the enemy? Not that he wanted Caster to kill innocent's but if they were looking for her then wasn't that fewer people looking for him?

He shook his head. No it was the right choice. He had no way to locate those responsible and if he did not act in his own interests at least at first then he would never find the Grail. It was just that... the choice felt like something an Association Mage would make.

"Having trouble?" a familiar voice cut across his thoughts. He started horribly and looked around in a panic. He knew that voice!

Sure enough not 4 feet from him was the blond Servant in the fur coat standing with his arms folded across his chest and looking down on him with the amused little smile that he always seemed to wear.

"**$%#!**" Will yelled grabbing the side of the bench and getting ready to run for his life.

"Stay." Came the voice of the man. "Unless you want me to make you." he went on pleasantly.

Will stopped and eased back into his chair. Whatever the case running probably wouldn't get him far, especially considering how quickly he had put that sword through Samantha Greens head.

The Servant (Gilgamesh he recalled, though he wasn't familiar with the name) smiled a bit wider when he saw that Will wasn't going anywhere. "And don't concern yourself with calling Saber either. I assure you that I mean you no harm. You are a very lucky man, so lucky in fact that we desire an audience of you."

Relaxing a little (A very little) Will looked at Gilgamesh warily, ready to summon Saber despite the Servants words.

"Who's we?" Will asked slowly.

Gil snorted loudly "I see, a true peasant through and through. At least you don't pretend to be otherwise."

"Yeah ah ha that's me, just a peasant here. Is there anything I can do for you?" Will said trying to sound polite but overshooting a little.

Gil took a step closer, he was now standing right in front of Will looking down into his face. "You are a lucky man" he repeated "Because you have been granted stewardship over something that belongs to me."

"Have I?" Will squeaked in a very small voice. Something was odd he noted, it wasn't the first time he had been in close proximity to someone with the power to kill him but for some reason something about the Servant in the Fur coat overwhelmed him.

"Yes." Gil said simply. Suddenly he turned around and gestured around him. "Its a nice place isn't it?"

"What? Oh...Oh yeah, yeah! Its a nice place, A very nice place." Will said hastily.

"Yes it is, an entire world established outside of man's birthplace. A new city, built by technology and magic, call it a celestial colony if you will. To tell the truth I am still impressed with it. Whatever happens next I am going to enjoy exploring this place."

"I- I'm very happy for you." Will blurted out not knowing what else to say.

"When I see a place like this it reminds me of what people can accomplish. Now I have seen quite a bit of that but still sometimes even I get a surprise. And when that happens... I get such wonderful ideas. For example, If mere humans can build that" He said gesturing to a particularly huge skyscraper that rose in the distance. "Just by themselves, and in an imperfect state... well then what would a perfected humanity, with a worthy ruler be able to do hmm?"

Gil turned back around and looked at Will again. "When things come down to it people can do so much, yet at the same time they could do so more..." He trailed of with a far away look in his eye. "Sorry, sometimes I think about all that potential and get carried away" he said snapping back into the present and making Will jump again.

"Now you, you are lucky because even though you are a commoner of no particular importance, you have gained the opportunity to please me." Gilgamesh went on gesturing in the air for emphasis. "You see the one that you supply with Mana is one of the few people in this world that are truly **worthy** of me, and as such it falls to you (for now) to see that she is properly accommodated.. I want you to know that, whatever relationship you think you have with her, by becoming her means to stay in this world you have also formed a relationship with **me**."

"Her last Master ignored that relationship, he is dead now and worm's eat his worthless corpse. I trust that you will not be so foolish. If you treat her as some Magus do to their Servants, like a tool that they somehow control, or like her last master did, an equal who he dared to fraternize with, then I will be...most displeased with you. When I killed the woman in the church it was because she annoyed me, what do you think will happen if you anger me?"

Will swallowed. Gill smiled wider at him.

"Just remember that if she dies I will ensure that you do to, and not quickly, therefore it is your first and primary interest that she survives no mater what."

Will nodded vigorously plastering a huge closed lipped smile across his face.

"Don't worry though," he tacked on almost as an afterthought. "she is quite good at it. She survived her last Master's staggering idiocy so it shouldn't be to much of a problem. Serve us well and I will see that you have a part in my plan after the Crusade."

"Well that sounds really great." Will forced himself to say as the Servants two red eye's seemed to scorch him.

"It will be..." Gilgamesh intoned softly.

"Before I go" he said changing back to his usual volume "there is one more thing, throughout this Crusade I will have various tasks for you, the first is simple, call it a test of sorts."

With that Gil reached into his pocket and drew forth a small necklace. It's chain was some silvery material set with tiny ruby's, masterfully crafted and beautiful to look at, it ended with a silvery pendant that was set with a small but flawless sapphire. "Give this to Saber and tell her that the Golden King sends her his noble regards. I will know if she gets it or not." With that he handed it to Will who fingered it with wonder.

After gazing at it for a little he looked up at Gil again "Is it Silver?"

It was a serious question but the man burst out in a bought of disdainful laughter. "Silver? No you stupid boy! Gil breathed out when he had recovered himself. "Do you really think that I would give Royalty such as her a gift of Silver? What is Silver to me but a thing to eat off of when I tire of gold? That is Atkaz'une, forged in the most secret laboratory's of the ancient alchemists of Babylon. You would call it Aluminum."

Forgetting his fear of the one before him Will broke out into a disbelieving smile and said "Hun? Aluminum?"

"Yes." Gil said darkly making Will drop his smile and go ridged as a board once again. "Although you fools in the after-days have made it as common as the dust, in the time of Kings and gods it was the most precious mettle on the earth. What is more this one has been forged and bewitched in such a way as to make it stronger that steel. It is useful against those who would intrude upon ones dreams. See that she wears it well."

With that the blond Servant turned and walked away leaving a thoroughly unnerved Will siting on the bench holding an Aluminum necklace studded with precious gems.

*Scene *

Saber walked through the hallways of the training facility listening to Celto talk about different branches and various classes one could take to become an Enforcer. It had take a little verbal footwork but Saber had improvised and managed to convince the man that she was a new Immigrant from something he called an Non-Administrated world and was still getting use to Mid and life in the "Administrated worlds".

After that things had progressed a lot smother, understanding that Saber knew almost nothing of the Enforcer position besides the fact that it was militant branch of the TSAB he begun to explain things from the ground up. As it was she had begun to get her hands on some of the information that she had come for though not all of it was comforting. Apparently the TSAB was larger than she had imagined even after learning that it controlled the entire planet. According to the man who was walking in front of her it commanded over 80 worlds all told. In truth Saber did not believe him, the idea of controlling over 80 worlds was preposterous and was obviously some sort of propaganda used to instill respect into those who did not know better.

After talking to him for a little while longer and giving him her false ID she had asked for a tour.

"A tour?" he said sounding contemplative. Then a understanding, sly smile crept over his face. "Oh I get it... you came here to see if you could meet the White Devil didn't you?"

"I'm sorry I don't know who you mean." Saber said answering the semi rhetorical question.

"There no need to be shy Miss" he shot back cheerfully. "We get fans trying to see her all the time, fortunately for people like you she isn't to shy of visitors."

"I assure you that I have no idea who you are speaking of Mr Pentmin, now if you would be so kind as to show me this establishment of yours I would be well satisfied."

Celto looked at her like he didn't quite believe her but said "Alrighty then if you would just follow me." and stood up leading her out of his office.

Saber followed feeling rather irritated inside. Not being taken at face value by the man infuriated her, all her life she had given nothing but the utmost sincerity and been treated accordingly, she supposed that she could not blame the man for not knowing who she was, but a lifetime of being taken seriously by all those who met her and of quickly correcting the few who did not didn't lend itself well to swift adaptation.

So it was that as she was given the tour, that and several other small slights compounded by her own fundamental discomfort with having to pretend to be someone else slowly built up a simmering bad temper inside her.

"And out here we have the active training grounds" Celto said leading her out onto a balcony.

Momentarily forgetting her poor temper Saber's eyes widened slightly as she gazed out over a large field.

All over the expanse there were huge sprawling obstacle courses, courts for sparing in, vast fields where soldiers would assemble and even pockets of mismatching terrain artificially superimposed over selected portions of the land.

What captured Saber attention though were the people. All over the field hundreds of Mages were climbing though obstacle courses, sparing, racing each other or simply doing drills in the wide open areas. Most stunning of all though were the distant specs of human figures that were hovering in the air above them.

Saber did a double take and her mouth fell open for real, her eyes flashing in astonishment. Celto laughed "First time you ever seen somebody-"

"Dyngis oft th Dewill!" Saber gasped cutting him off as she gaped skyward. Her fists were clenched and shaking at her sides as she watched the little figures of airborne men and women dive and maneuver at fantastic speeds in the sky above her.

It was impossible, was her first thought. Flying artifacts or magical beasts were rare and matchless treasures on earth, even among Nobel Phantasms they were uncommon and invaluable. But as for flying under your own power? Only two people in her life experience had ever achieved such a thing, one was the Caster Servant Medea and the other was a witch by the name of Mensab who had allied herself with her sister Morgause and her ilk. However the most either of them could managed was a fraction of the speed with which the Maguses above her were flying at.

"Are you alright? Do you want me to get you a chair Miss?" Celto asked smiling and leaning in close and looking at her slack face.

"How... How is this possible?" Saber whispered

"Its no big deal, some Mages become capable of flight after their magic develops, I know it must seem fantastic to someone who grew up in a place with only a little magic but I assure you it's normal enough on Mid." Celto orated cheerfully, answering a question that his audience had not really been looking for the answer to.

Saber just continued to stare up at the flying figures, they were weaving two and fro around each other. Then one of them stopped briefly in mid air and leveled a large beam of green energy at one of the others who dived down fast as a sparrow and dodged it.

"You say that this is normal... in this place?" Saber asked in an rather nasal sounding croak that she hadn't heard from herself for years.

"Well not normal per-say, it's something that most Mages never accomplish, but it's not unheard of by any means. … Your hand is bleeding!" Celto rushed forward and took Saber's wrist trying to examine her hand.

She shook him off irritably and with a strength that surprised the man.

Looking down briefly at her hand, she saw that she had clenched her fist's so tightly that a large drop of blood had welled up on the side of her index finger where her thumbnail had pierced the skin.

Celto was now watching her with a concerned look etched on his face. "Miss Argante, perhaps you would like to sit down for a little? We have coffee and donuts in the wreck room you could take a breath in there for a little before we continue."

"Don't patronize me." Saber said coldly.

Celto looked slightly offended "Right then, I see. Well if your a big girl then who is two grown up for such things then I needn't take you there." he said in a voice that was probably meant to get younger people to pull themselves together. It only served to infuriate Saber more.

"That is correct, you needn't" She stated just as coldly as before, her temper flaring at the sarcasm in his voice.

Celto narrowed his eyebrows at her and seemed to be about to say something but just shrugged. "Lets finish this then shall we Miss Belcam?"

He walked away from the edge of the balcony and back into the building gesturing Saber to follow him.

Saber gave one last look up at the flying figures and then followed her guide back inside. That was something she would definitely have to work around, she just hoped that most of the Mages did not prefer their fights in the air, she had her sword, but... she really hoped that most Mages did not prefer their fights in the air.

Saber hardly payed attention to the rest of the tour, instead contemplating the implications of so many flying Mages, it almost changed the entire war. And how was it possible? That was the problem she kept returning to, surely their Magecraft could not be so superior to those of the Mages on earth as to simply allow flight?

Celto must have noticed her distraction because he continued the tour with much less enthusiasm than he had begun with.

Saber went along only listening for things that might be useful and occasionally asking the obligatory question. Suddenly as they went along Celto stopped in front of a office labeled 'Nanoha Combat Instructor' a smile crept back into Celtos features and he seemed to be debating something. "Well" he said turning around and facing her with slightly restored humor. "Here she is, Nanoha Takamachi herself. You want to meet her?"

"I'm not familiar with the name I'm afraid."

Celto gave her a measured look before finally pronouncing "You really don't know who I'm talking about do you?"

Saber ground her teeth together "Yes Mr Pentmin, that is what I am saying, I am not familiar with whatever hero's you people revere in this city, now will you please stop acting like I am leading you on?"

"Alright, alright I meant no offense. In that case maybe you should meet her more, not everybody can say that they met the White Devil."

Saber raised her eyebrows at the repeated use of the title, she sensed a war veteran from the way he spoke of this person. Probably an old war veteran who had performed some great deed and become something of a legend from the sound of it.

Celto knocked on the door. And was answered, to Saber's surprise, by the voice of a young woman. "Eh? Come in."

Celto opened the door and walked inside Saber following after. "Oh hello Celto how are you today?"

"I'm fine as always Nanoha," he said brightly "just showing Miss grumpy here the facility, she wants to become an Enforcer someday."

Seated behind a desk doing paperwork of some sort was a young woman who could not have been out of her mid 20's, she had a pleasantly wide face with blue eyes and long auburn hair tied back in a ponytail. She was dressed in a mostly white version of the standard uniform with a few strips of blue here and there and a tag labeled Combat Instructor. She was smiling widely at them.

"Hello! Who is this?" she asked nodding to Saber.

"Ah this is Miss Argante Belcam, she's new to Mid, from an Non-Administered world. She just found out about Magic and is interested in becoming an Enforcer someday." Celto said gesturing Saber forward.

Nanoha lit up. "That's wonderful! I am Nanoha Takamachi,Combat instructor though you can call me Nanoha."

Saber gave a short bow. "Thank you Miss Takamachi, I am Argante Belca, it is quite establishment that you have here."

"The best on the planet. And Please just call me Nanoha. So you said that you were interested in becoming an Enforcer? Do you have much magic potential?"

Saber paused inside, what was she suppose to say to that again? Ah yes. "Well, I have 23 active magic circuits and I can preform single verse spells with some preparation." She said trying to sound normal.

There was a pause, Nanoha and Celto were both staring at her with confused expressions.

Saber tensed, did she miss something? Of course. "I am afraid that I don't have a Thaumaturgical Crest." She added.

It didn't have the effect that Saber was aiming for, instead of nodding or making some other comment like "Oh well that's okay" or "Hmm that's a problem" they were silent looking even more confused.

Eventually Celto let out a flat sounding "what?"

Saber, already feeling irritated began to experience the first pangs of true anger born of frustration. "Is there something wrong with that?" she asked with a raised voice.

Nanoha seemed to snap out of it. "Argante" she said in a motherly tone "I am sorry but I think somebody played a joke on you, do you really know anything about magic?"

Saber gave up, she had apparently said something wrong and now had no idea what to do to correct the mistake. Better to play along then try and backtrack blindly to two people who probably knew the subject inside out.

"No" she said feinting resignation "I don't really know anything about Magic. I just wanted the tour."

Celto looked ticked and folded his arms together ready to make an angry speech but Nanoha's expression dissolved into a soft smile. Getting up out of her desk she walked over to Saber and put her hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright Argante-san! I understand completely, plenty of people your age want to become Enforcers but don't know much about Magic. The key is hard work!"

"Miss Takamachi I thank you for your kindness but I really don't know much about Magic, I do not wish to waist your time, I will be going now." Saber said brushing her hand of her shoulder and stared to turn for the door.

It was the wrong excuse to try on Nanoha.

"No I am very serious" She said assertively while cutting of Saber's escape through the door. "Just because you aren't yet familiar with Magic is no reason to give up on your dream! Plenty of people become enforcers from Non-administrated worlds, to tell the truth that was the case with me as well."

Nanoha gestured to the chair in front of her desk "Pleas sit, I have time, besides if I didn't take time to advise people I wouldn't be much of an instructor would I?"

Rather surprised by such a warm response to her admitted deception Saber sat down in the chair, again folding her hands in her lap. It was turning out to be a most peculiar day.

"So who told you to tell us that jargon about circuits?" Celto said still wearing a frown on his face.

At that Saber knew something was wrong. She was no Maugus but she knew well enough the rules that the entire system of Magecraft was built around. Yet here was this man, a qualified member of an apparently elite order of Mages, who was calling it jargon. "Im afraid that I dont know what you mean."

Celto gave a whistle and breathed out "Wow, so you **really** don't know much about magic."

"It's alright, how was she suppose to learn about it in a non-Administered world?" Nanoha broke in.

Deciding that it would be better to play along and conceding to the growing likelihood that these people called Magic Circuits by a different name Saber just nodded her head and asked them to explain.

"Didn't they explain it when you, you know, came over?" Celto asked with his eyebrows raised.

"No, I am afraid I must have missed that" Saber said

"Wow... somebody really messed up. Well to begin with every person has a Linker Core, which is an Ethereal organ that makes Magic possible." Celto explained with a slight edge to his voice like he was talking to a moron. "For some people, most people that is, they have little or no Magical potential. They are classified as 'whites' and generally have little to do with jobs that require magic to operate. Then" he pointed to Nanoha "You have people like our White Devil here who have immense magical potential and are easily capable of things like flight."

Saber looked over at Nanoha who was watching her face with a thoughtful expression. "So you...can fly?"

"Yes, Its an idea that you get used to more when you live here a little longer." The White clad woman replied cheerfully.

Nanoha watched Argente with interest. Ever since she had entered the room she had somehow been struck that the girl before her was very tightly wound. She reminded her a little of Teana before she had realized that pushing herself to the maximum 100% of the time was not the best way to go. Yet at the same time there was something that reminded her of Signum in the young woman. Young woman... that wasn't quite right she realized. Nanoha was seized with an inexplicable feeling that while she was very youthful she was not young. It was a strange and baseless hunch but once she had it it would not leave her alone and she found that when she looked at Argante she could no longer see a 19 year old girl in her anymore. Nothing had changed physically, but like finding a clever illusion in a piece of art, once you realized that it was there, there was no unseeing it. Now whenever she looked at the woman who was siting in front of her desk she saw somebody who could have been 22, her age, 30, or even older.

It was a somehow unnerving feeling and she suddenly felt slightly embarrassed about talking to her earlier like she was a distressed 19 year old girl.

"So who fed you that stuff about Circuit's?" Celto asked again after he had explained a little more.

"My brother... Kay" Saber said after fishing around for a little "I should have suspected something, he always did love to pull pranks on me." She smiled herself at the thought. Although it was a lie it was ironically close to the truth about her real brother.

Nanoha felt herself become a little less anxious when she saw Argante smile, it softened her whole face reveling a very pretty countenance underneath her rigged expression that she had been wearing until then.

"So Argante-san" Nanoha said "When exactly did you come here?"

"I first traveled to this country a little over a month ago." Saber replied after a little hesitation.

"And do you have a reason to become an Enfforcer?" Nanoha asked listening for her reaction carefully.

Saber did not respond for a while and after a little Nanoha thought that she wasn't going to answer. But when she did it was with a clear and genuine conviction that surprised Nanoha.

"I have always considered it my duty to defend the innocent and the weak." Saber said after a few moments of thoughtfulness."

"Why don't you go get your magic potential tested? I think, for some reason that you would make a fantastic Enforcer if you put your mind to it." Nanoha said her smile returning.

Saber looked back, for some reason the Maugus siting across from her struck her as genuinely concerned with helping the nonexistent Argante Belca become a defender of the people. Saber had met Mauguses who were friendly before but this one was not at all like most of them were. People like Samantha Green who used it as a mask to get what they wanted. Whatever motive the TSAB had for stealing the Grail this Maugus had no part in it Saber realized, she hoped that Nanoha would not be caught up in what was about to happen to deeply. The only other Maugus she had who was this friendly on the surface and under it was Shirou Emiya. That was if her feeling about the auburn haired Combat Instructor was correct.

They went on for a little after that, first discussing the different ranks of Mages, and a few in's and outs about becoming an Enforcer. After that Saber had managed to discreetly turn the conversation towards the Murders or "the current Incident" as they called it.

Unsurprisingly both of them were outraged at the perpetrators, whoever they were.

"Whoever is doing is definitely a very sick person." Nanoha said grimly "they say that even Children are disappearing. When we catch them and rescue those children there will quite a bit that they will have to answer for. Even Jail Scaglietti never targeted civilians like this."

"Jail Scaglietti?" Saber asked curiously.

"A bonafide mad scientist" Celto said "A few years back he tried to bring down the TSAB with a team of combat cyborgs, nearly did it to, but Nanoha here and her girlfreind put him down hard."

"Celto, I would prefer it if you didn't talk about Fate that way." Nanoha said sounding both a little indignant and a little embarrassed.

"So you saved the TSAB?" Saber asked surprised "Mr Pentmin told me that you were a renowned Maugus but I didn't realize that you had saved the entire realm. You must be quite well known indeed."

"Well I didn't do it on my own, not like some people will pretend. They may call me the White Devil but really it was my teammates who did most of the fighting." Nanoha replied.

"Ah, a leader of men I see." Saber said deeply. "That by no means diminishes your deed's, the leader of the band is the one who drives all the others and so has a 1/3 share in all their glory."

Celto looked mildly amused "really now? You talk like you have put a lot of though into that."

"It was something my Father told me." Saber replied.

After a little longer and another change of subject Saber stood and told them that she had to be leaving. After shaking hands stiffly with both of them she left, turning down Celto's offer to show her the way out.

When Saber had left the room and the door closed completely Celto snorted. "Well she was a regular snotty brat."

Nanoha turned on him "Why do you say so? I rather liked her, she had some mettle I think. I think that if she has the Magical Potential for it then I would recommend her for Armed Forces duty any day."

Celto looked mildly surprised "Are you serious? Did you hear her? She was trying so hard to sound cool it was ridiculous. 'I have 23 Magic circuits!, Wow I didn't realize that you saved the entire realm!, It is my duty to defend those less up tight than myself!' If I had to guess I would say that she was lying when she told me that she didn't know who you were. And whatever potential she might have she has serious arrogance problems, I mean that girl was up there as far as teenage girls being aloof goes."

"Did she... really look that young to you?" Nanoha asked ignoring Celtos laundry list of things that bothered him about Argante.

"Hun? What do you mean?"

"Did she really look like a teenager to you? I mean really." Nanoha said emphasizing 'really'.

"Um, well she did look a little more mature than most... but yeah I would say so. No make up though, that was kind of odd."

"So she wasn't a stuck up teenager then."

"No I just meant that she wasn't That kind of stuck up teenager, there are many different types you see-"

"I wonder..." Nanoha said cutting across Celto.

"Yeah?"

Nanoha stared at the door Saber had left though "Nothing. I'm sorry keep going."

Saber walked through the building trying to navigate to the exit. She had always had a very good sense of direction so she was not really having to much trouble but the halls all looked the same to her and after a little she realized that she had made a wrong turn. Backtracking she found the Hallway she was looking for and continued on when she was suddenly stopped by a very strangely dressed little girl.

"Hey you! Hair Bun Lady!" a high pinched voice had rung out making her stop and turn around. Saber found herself looking at a little redheaded girl wearing a crimson dress that fanned out in a wide skirt beneath her. On her head she wore a puffy hat with crosses and bunny heads sewn into it. The bunny's had X's over their eyes. Most strangely though was the weird hammer that she had slung over her shoulder.

The little girl walked up to her with a sour expression. "Can you tell me if the 5th Ocean squad is in or not?"

The girl was looking at her like she expected an answer and if it had come from someone older Saber might have taken it more seriously. Instead she looked in both directions for the girls chaperon. Seeing none she leaned down and said "I'm afraid I don't know" before asking " Are you looking for you're parents dear?"

"My Parents?" the girl said looking irritated and a little angry "Maybe you're new around here kid but I happen to be Second Lieutenant Vita, and by the way, that secretary outfit is really cute but from now on you will wear a proper TSAB uniform or I will have you written up."

Vita rattled of her speech with a angry sort of satisfaction. _Doggone it every time a new paper pusher gets switched in I have to go through this. _She thought. At least the expression on their faces when she announced herself and threaten retribution was worth it. It always amused her to see them snap to attention and start blustering out hasty apologizes, in a few weeks they would get to know her well enough to realize that she was bluffing half the time and then it wouldn't be the same. The first few days though? They were great.

To Vita's surprise however Saber did none of these things.

Instead she looked down on the little girl before her and frowned slightly. "Playing soldiers? Where are your playmates? Have you been wandering off? And how did you get in here without your Parents?"

Going red in the face Vita, shouted at the top of her lungs "DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID? I'm Combat Instructor Vita! Show me your Name and Rank!" and pointed Graf Eisen at the blond woman's face.

Saber's face changed into a deeper angry looking frown "Be careful in the way that you address your elders, girl." she snapped at her. Saber had never been able to abide impudent children having been raised to be respectful to adults no mater what. (And having been raised in a society where a common method of disciplining you're children was a backhand to the face...)

With a flick of her wrist Saber snatched Graf Eisen away from Vita grabbed her by the back of the collar and started pulling her along down the Hall so flabbergasting the her that she didn't strike immediately.

"You should not be playing in here! When I find your parents I have half a mind to tell them that their daughter is a disrespectful brat who should be disciplined more strictly. If you think that yelling at-"

Vita pulled away from Sabers grip on her collar, spun around and wrenched Graf Einsen from Saber's other hand. Almost snarling her indignation she flew up to Saber's face level and aimed a swift blow from Graf Eisen at her chest.

Her combat instincts kicking in Saber jumped back away from the swinging hammer.

Vita hovered there still in the air while Saber looked at her astonished. Reaching slowly back to feel the back of her collar where she had pulled free Vita froze as her hand ran across a tear in the fabric.

Beginning to shake with indignation and now rage Vita pointed Graf Eisne at Saber again. "I don't know who you are..." she said her voice uneven she was so angry "But nobody touches Graf Eisen except for me. And nobody, **nobody** rips the clothes that HAYATE GAVE ME!"

Saber stood staring at the rather odd and suddenly alarming spectacle she was witnessing. Unsure as to what it all meant she laid her hand on her invisible sword.

Vita flew at Saber's chest intending to knock her of her feet and then step on her throat a little but her opponent was a great deal more agile then she had expected and she darted underneath her as she came forward. Twirling around to face each other again the two paused and sized the other up neither quite knowing what to make of the other.

Before the situation escalated a crown of men and women in uniform suddenly flooded into the hall drawn by the sound of Vita's shouting. They crowded around the two until a man in a combat instructor uniform stepped though the crowd. He was very tall with a brown head of hair and an air of importance about him, his tag read 'Vedric Keaton, Combat Instructor'.

"What is going on here? Fighting in the halls or anywhere else that is not the training grounds is unacceptable! I want to see your names an... Oh hello Vita."

Whirling around on Saber he barked "Right then, who are you? Assaulting an officer is punishable by Court Marshal so explain yourself before I have you locked up."

Saber looked back and forth between a still floating Vita and the tall figure of the officer who was threatening to have her thrown into the dungeons.

Slowly taking her hand of her swords invisible hilt she addressed the tall officer. "A am sorry if I upset the... company mascot."

There was a shocked "OOOOHH" form the crowd, Vita blanched and went redder than ever nearly choking in mid air as she gave Graf Eisen a few short mock swings in Saber direction.

Saber went on ignoring the diminutive ball of furry and the surrounding personnel "She addressed me in the halls and I did not realize that she was anything other than a lost child. When I tried to-"

"Just show me your name and rank girl" Vedric said cutting her off coldly.

"I have none, I was leaving from taking a tour of this place when we met."

Vedric raised his eyebrow's "Are you joking? Can you confirm that?"

"I was just given the tour by a man named Celto, he should be back in another combat instructor's office."

"Hold on!" came a voice through the crowd. They all turned and looked, moving though the crowd which separated before her quickly was Nanoha followed closely by Celto.

Making her way to the edge of the crowd and stepping into the circle with the three of them Nanoha started defending Saber "I came when I heard the commotion- Oh Hi Vita- and yes this lady did just finish a tour, her name is Argante Belcam. What happened?"

Vedric looked surprised and unsure of what to do now, he kept looking back and forth between Saber and Nanoha.

"She attacked me is what happened! Vita growled out somehow sounding intimidating and whiny at the same time "She grabbed Graf Eisen and then she Tore. My. Shirt!"

"What? Argante did you do that?" Nanoha said looking between the two of them.

"I didn't realize that that girl was a member of you organization, I believed that it was unwise to allow a child to posses a hammer or that it was proper for her to speak to adults in the way that your men have apparently been encouraging her to." Saber said curtly, her voice lace with accusation of child neglect.

"Ah Argante... Vita is not exactly as young as she looks in fact, well she's older than me." Nanoha informed her.

Saber's eyes widened and she gave Vita another look. Vita scowled back at her still refusing to drop back to the ground.

"I must say." Saber said in a put out voice "I had no way of knowing. Is she a homunculus?"

Nanoha went "I'm sorry a what?" while Vita yelled out "What did you call me you pasty tourist!"

"Never mind" Saber said deciding not to dig the ditch any deeper. Turning back to Vita she gave a short nod "You have my apologies for so assaulting your dignity Miss Vita. Perhaps however you will be more understanding of the fact that most people do not cater to the tantrums of a spoiled child, and approach stranger's with more finesse."

There was another "OOOOHH" from the crowd accompanied by a few laughs (Mostly from people who had got the business end of Graf Eisen one to many times for their taste during training sessions) Vita renewed her scowl at Saber and griped her hammer tightly.

"That's enough Miss Argante" Vedric said "Vita here has been fighting criminals and training Enforcers for longer than you have been out of high school, she doesn't have to give you respect if she doesn't want to. Now get out of here and don't come back till you have been sworn into uniform."

Saber nodded and begun to walk away. Nanoha gave her a look as she left and then turned to Vita. Seeing that the spectacle was over the crowd begun to break up.

"What happened? Nanoha asked though she had a pretty good idea.

"That stupid civilian though I was a little girl! Then when I told her my rank and name she didn't believe me, she tried to take Graf Einse form me and I she ripped my dress when I took it back!" Vita said loudly. "If I ever run into her again!... she had better stay out of my way if she ever decides to come back here!"

Nanoha shook her head. Vita was often grumpy or angry about something or another but it rarely got this bad.

Composing herself somewhat Vita looked back up at Nanoha. "So you were giving her a tour?"

"Ah yes, she seemed alright when I was talking to her, Look Vita I'm sure that this was all an innocent misunderstanding, She was a bit odd but I don't think she would ever deliberately try anything, you do look rather young you know?"

Vita grunted "Well, I guess its just the hazards of being short, idiots are twice as attracted to you."

Nanoha smiled at her grumbling companion "So aside from being harassed by tourists what are going?

Vita plodded along after Nanoha as they made their way back to her office. "Well, Nanoha I'm helping Hayate with the Incident."

"Really? So she got assigned to it? I knew she would."

"Yeah they know who the best is, look I'm here to put together a few teams..."

*Scene *

Saber walked away from the Enforcer Training Facility. Will had been right, she had actually learned a lot. Not what they really needed to know about the Grail but important information none the less. She knew that they flew now, she knew that they used homunculus and that they were very organized.

Walking several blocks down she sought out the place where Will had agreed to wait for her after her mission. He was standing there looking flustered and rather relived to see her.

"Master, I have returned, are you alright?"

"Yes I am okay. But I'm glad that you're back, I got a little visit from that Gilgamesh guy while you were gone."

Saber jolted "What! He visited you? Why did you not summon me immediately?"

"Its alright, Im okay, look I would have but he sneaked up on me, by the time I saw him he would have killed me if I had tried anything."

"What did he do?" Saber demanded her voice straining.

"He just talked to me, told me to not let you die or he would kill me. And to give you this."

Will held out the aluminum necklace that Gil had given him. In the light it gleamed as it reflected the sunbeams off the gems that adorned it.

Saber took its slowly in one hand and studied it for a little, her expression more icy and dagger sharp than Will had ever seen it. It was indeed masterfully crafted with cunningly devised links complementing the various gemstones and the flawless sapphire that hung from the middle, a pure deep blue like the sky that, despite its small size was clearly a jewel of matchless beauty and worth.

With a flick of her wrist and a disgusted look Saber threw the ancient and priceless necklace into the street where it was unceremoniously run over by incoming traffic. "Fool" she said quietly "does he really presume to win my affection with petty trinkets?"

Will watched the necklace get run over by another car and bounce a little in the road. "You know" he said dryly "if you didn't like it we could probably have pried the gem's off that thing and used them to get a better apartment."

Saber ignored the comment. "Come Master we have work to do, We will worry about that madman later, I have learned much from my foray of the TSAB stronghold."

*Scene *

Lancer was perched on top of one of the city's many skyscrapers surveying the streams of traffic below him like a oversized crow greedily watching a farmer sow his field. It was a analogy that Lancer would have hated had he been aware of it, he despised crows. They had always heralded his most biter enemies.

Bazett walked up behind him "Alright, you know what to do?"

"Yeah I got it down, go to this warehouse and see what the guy want's and if he tries anything kill him. If not report back. Not the most complicated plan of attack I have ever done I must say."

"Right, well then get going, I can take care of myself for a while."

Lancer gazed at his Mistress contemplatively. "You sure you don't want to come at least most of the way there with me? We don't want a repeat of that man a few night's ago."

"That police officer would have questioned me a little and then moved on if you had given him the chance instead of stabbing him." Bazett said angrily.

Lancer looked almost sorry for a split second before replying "He was asking questions of the wrong person. I don't let people talk to my Master like that, especially one as elegant as you."

"Get going!" Bazett snapped.

With a laugh Lancer hoped off the roof. Bazett turned and left, it was no good to stay in one place for long without you Servant around.

Wind rushed up into Lancer's grinning face blowing his hair around as he dropped through the cool night air. Falling as fast as a speeding car by the time he neared the pavement Lancer plopped down on a fence post, his legs bending under him as they absorbed his massive momentum. For all this his landing was nearly noiseless. He set off into the night at a rolling pace, running and jumping across roof's, along the tops of fences and though alleys. With his speed it took him only about 7 minutes to reach his destination, a warehouse in a quieter section of the impossibly large city that he had found himself in. _Seriously _he thought as he ran along _Who build's city's this big? Hardly a tree of a blade of grass to be found except in those little patches that they have scattered around. It's unnatural, no wonder these people decided to steal the Grail. Living in a place like this must do strange things to the mind. _

He arrived in front of the vacant warehouse, one of the doors was open but no light was on and inside the doorway was pitch black.

"Hmm, not the most hospitable fellow this Master." Lancer mused aloud stroking a nonexistent beard "Very bad sign, a lack of hospitality, shows treacherous intent." He looked around a little more before spotting... _oh sharp eyed me._ "And so does having your Servant perched right where she could easily surprise attack anyone going through the door..." he added a little louder than was normal. A momentary pause "That means I see you blind lady!" he shouted out at the figure crouching on one of the rooftops opposite to the open door. The figure stood up immediately. It was the alluring Rider Servant who had spent all her time reading back at the Church, her absurdly long purple hair identifying her even before her blindfold did.

"I do talk to myself sometimes." Lancer went on as the purple haired beauty looked down on him clutching a menacing looking chain in her hands. "But never that long or that loudly, they tell me that I am crazy enough you see. But I don't suspect that you do, not with that thing making sweet love to your eye sockets."

Rider was unsure what to make of the talkative man in blue, she had hoped to avoid detection until it was to late but that plan was useless now and she didn't relish facing a Knight class Servant head on. In a last bid for surprise Rider nodded wordlessly to the door.

Lancer turned his glanced at it before looking up at her again a sardonic smile playing across his face. "Sorry but there is no way am I going in there cailin, not while you're standing behind me."

The instant the words were out of his mouth Rider's hand flickered and her spiked chain shot out so fast that Lancer nearly fell over backwards trying to dodge it.

Faster than a bullet Rider shot down from the roof and kicked him full in the face while he was of balance, sending Lancer spinning across the pavement.

He stood back up grinning manically and sidestepped Rider as she shot towards him again, trying to impale him with her nail's.

"Hey" he said very quietly in a voice that was not like his usual brash tone "You know, I haven't seen any other Servants or Masters since we split up, are you sure that you want to do this?"

Rider pivoted on one foot and threw her chain at his face but Lancer tilted his head away jumped towards her his crimson spear japing out at her torso. She practically floated away from it her long hair billowing out in a strange wavelike pattern as she moved.

He finished his strike where Rider had been standing a moment before. "That's good" he gloated, all his old tone back in his voice "I actually prefer it this way, I only offered to stop because my Mistress insisted I show some manners, now though..." He cracked his neck in a circular motion and then jumped away when Rider shot one of her chains at his briefly exposed throat.

Still grinning Lancer ran forward spear leveled yelling at the top of his lungs "Briseadh ar Ulster!"

Rider jumped backward and upwards practically flying into the air while throwing her chains down at the charging spearman.

The warehouse front rang with the sound of their battle.

*Scene *

Subaru sat in the back of the transport vehicle prepping Revolver Knuckle. The men siting next to and across form her were doing the same to their devices. Only yesterday she had been on leave quietly enjoying her time spent with her sisters, they had heard of the unfolding incident on the new's and had been quite alarmed at many of the reports (She even suspected that Nove and Wendi had been going out together at night in hopes of finding the culprits) Subaru however had volunteered for duty, at first they had informed her that she would be contacted if they needed her. Then she had heard that Hayate had been put in charge of the case. Almost immediately afterward orders had come down that all Enforcers were to be mobilized and that all support units (that included disaster rescue units incidentally) were to provide any aid possible. Subaru had been snatched up and after a quick look at her record she was assigned to support a Ground Forces team as a "Forward support Mage" a position that sounded oddly familiar to one of her previous positions a few years ago.

She had been at one of the Enforcer offices introducing herself to the team she was to be working with when a anonymous call came in that two Mages were fighting in front of a warehouse. The team leader, a rather intimidating red faced first Seargent by the name of Boric Marclov with a drooping face like a bulldog, had alerted the entire network and told everyone to have their barrier jackets on and be inside the transports in 2 minutes. It was a high standard even considering her training with the White Devil, but in 2 minutes all 10 of them were inside the vanlike transport and were hurtling down the street sirens blaring flanked by two police cars. The ride over was punctuated by Boric explaining in a rather to loud voice where each of them was suppose to be when they got out.

"Lenic! You stay to the side and watch for any surprise attackers, you job is to shield the shooters if these #*&!& try anything."

"Yes Sir!"

"Qwint my man, you take the front as usual."

"Khe! Sure thing Boric."

"Seargent Subaru."

"Eh!" She blurted out realizing that he was addressing her.

"Pay attention! I know that you're not an Enforcer but I saw your record, support be damned, I want you right where you belong, front and center with Qwint. These Mages are either the people we are looking for or they are two idiots who think that it's good fun to have a duel in a public area during the middle of an incident. Either way if they give us trouble take them down hard and fast. Its good to work with you, Silver Ace."

Subaru blinked in surprise, she had been under the initial impression that Boric didn't care for her, yet hear he was smiling and referring to her by her nickname. She thought she was starting to get a handle on the mans personality, it was not unlike that of her friend and old superior Vita. _Well at least I have a frame of reference now. _She thought. Although not exactly emotionally weak Subaru much preferred nice people to ones like Boric, getting along well with children and other girls more than the drill sergeant types.

"Wait your Subaru Nakajima, your the Silver Ace?" the Enforcer named Lenic asked looking at her with slightly wide eye's.

Subaru smiled sheepishly "Yes that's me..."

"You bet its her you imbecile," Boric said loudly but not unkindly. "You hear that boys?" he said even louder so that everyone in the transport stopped talking and listened to him. "This lady here is the Silver Ace! Served under the White Devil herself during the Scagetti incident, she's pulled of more than either you or any of your descendants ever will so just watch her and you'll see how a veteran fights."

The crowd of enforcers were all looking at her with something like surprise mixed with respect, a few nodded at her, some smiled.

Subaru felt a little put on the spot. She had gotten amazed reactions from people learning that she was the Silver Ace before but nothing like this, _the names fame must be getting bigger_ she thought to herself.

After that there was a bit of a change in atmosphere, several people made to compete for seats next to her and Lenic started asking her questions like "What is the White Devil really like?" and "I heard that you're team took out all those combat cyborgs, are you really living with them now?" as well as one "Does Nanoha really carry a wallet that says 'Badass *%$*&%#^%' on the front? My friend told me she does." but they were all cut of by Boric yelling "Hey! Get back in you positions! I said watch her not sit in her lap! We are almost there."

The questions stopped as did the seat rearrangements, the overenthusiastic Ground Soldiers quickly getting back into their original positions as the transport lumbered on. After a few minutes one of the drivers yelled back "Okay we are almost there." the men shuffled and stood up facing the back doors of the transport. A few seconds later they grabbed the handles on the ceiling for support as the van screeched to a halt. A moment later the doors of the TSAB transport burst open. One after another they jumped out of the Transport in file. The police that had followed them were doing the same. As Subaru jumped out she heard someone shouting and...laughing? accompanied by the unmistakable ring of two melee weapons clashing together.

Jumping out of the van and swooping to the front with one push from Mach Caliber Subaru was greeted to a very strange scene. Standing maybe 15 feet apart were two figures, both had almost definitely been fighting each other judging from the way they were holding there weapons and had indeed probably only just stopped when they had heard the transports pulling up.

"This is the TSAB! Cease fighting immediately, drop your devises and dismiss your barrier jackets and get on the ground!" Boric shouted at the top of his lungs as the Ground Forces soldiers fanned out into a half circle facing them. The two figures did none of those thing's, instead just standing there looking at them like they weren't quite sure what to make of them.

One of them was a very striking red haired man in a tight fitting blue barrier jacket with silver pardons that recalled to her the Wolkenriters armor. What drew her eyes first however was the mans device. It was a spear but much longer than any she had ever seen being longer than he was tall, it was colored a deep blood red crimson that was so vivid it almost glowed in his hand. She could barley make out intricate swirling patterns that ran up and down the handle, the tip was a long blade that jutted with cruel looking barbs near the base. It had no core that she could make out. She shuttered briefly, something about that spear sent chills up her spine, it was certainly not something that looked like it was made with peace keeping in mind.

When she pried her eyes off the strange devise and looked at the other figure her mouth fell open. "Eh? Lutec..."she stopped halfway through calling out Lutecia Alpines name. The woman who stood before her regarding them expressionlessly was definitely not Lutecia but was so similar to her friend that it was uncanny. With smooth alabaster features, a black strapless barrier jacket with purple trim and a flowing river of straight violet hair that fell almost to the ground she could have easily been Lutecia's sister. The differences were distinctive however, most noticeably a purple blindfold that was wrapped around her head completely covering her eyes and marking her as blind. She was also much older than Subaru's 14 year old friend looking to be in her late 20's or early 30's and having a very womanly figure and even longer hair than Lutecia (or Fate for that matter). On her arms and legs she wore long black sleeves that continued where her rather short outfit stopped, they were secured on by several purple bracers slung around her arms. In her hands she held a chain-like device that had long nail like daggers on one end and metal hoops on the other. Her face was expressionless and cold, maybe it was just because she couldn't help but compare her to Lutecia but Subaru though that she looked sad, like Luticia had been when her mother was comatose. It was a fleeting thought but Subaru couldn't help suddenly wanting to cheer the blind lady up a little, whoever she was...

While she stood there looking at them Subaru noted something odd, although the two were clearly wielding what looked to be Armed devices of some sort she didn't sense any magic from either of them. At least not clearly, there was something there now that she felt harder, but it was indistinct and small like a faint and unfamiliar smell that you could have just been imagining.

Subaru was jerked out of her contemplation by Boric yelling "I said drop you devices and get on the ground! You are under arrest for public brawling and disturbing the peace!"

"Well it looks like we went and upset somebody eh Rider?" said the man in the blue barrier jacket, flippantly.

"Last warning, disarm or we will subdue you by force!"

The blue clad man merely gave Boric an annoyed looking glace "There sure are a lot of them aren't there?" He went on casually like he was stating that it was time for dinner rather than facing down a team of 9 ground forces soldiers an Ex Striker and assorted police. "Oh well, you take that guy and I'll just get the rest, just yell if he's to strong for you, I'll come and save ya." The spearman said pointing to one of the shorter police officers.

"Men" Boric said simply "Shoot them."

A volley of magical bolts shot towards the pair as the Enforcers and the police let lose with their Storage Devices.

Neither of the two fell stunned however, before the bolts of magical light could even reach their targets, the two strange Mages jumped away in opposite directions evading the bolts before they even came close.

It was not a bad display of agility, Subaru thought to herself as they landed another 10 feet away from each other, she could have done it but not as handily as the odd duo did. They had been in fairly close range when they had been shot at and the two had covered 10 feet of ground in less than half a second and neither of them looked so much as flustered.

Boric swore loudly. But before he could start barking out orders the purple haired woman that the other had called Rider suddenly turned on her heel's and sped of into the night.

"Hey! Where are you going you slimy coward! Your gonna leave all these people for me to kill by myself?" The blue Mage yelled after her sounding really annoyed.

Subaru narrowed her eye's, she didn't like people who spoke of killing like it was nothing, it ticked her off in a way that few things did, _he wasn't there during the Mirage incident, he probably doesn't really know the first thing about people dying. _She thought.

"You officers! Follow that Woman! Peros, Fin, go with them!" Boric shouted. 2 of the group broke out of formation and ran around the corner that she had disappeared behind folowed by the police officers.

"Subaru, Qwint, beat that criminal down." Boric said dangerously.

"Yes sir." Subaru rushed forward on her skates towards the man, drawing Revolver Knuckle back as she did so. Nothing like a good medium powered sock in the chest to teach a possible murder suspect some manners.

"Ich, a girl? This wont be fun at all." The Mage said sounding bored and annoyed as Subaru skated towards him, the enforcer named Qwint right behind her. The blue Mage held his armed device out in front of him like a staff and met Subarus fist dead center with its crimson shaft.

As Revolver Knuckle slammed into the spear Subaru found to her surprise that the man was very strong. Instead of flying backward unconscious like she had planed for the Spearman simply stumbled backwards a little with a surprised look on his face while letting out a "Whoa!". _Hmm, looks like I will have to hit a little harder, this guy is tougher than most..._

Lancer looked up in surprise at the girl who had just almost succeeded in bull rushing him off his feet. He had expected a little kick from the huge gauntlet that the Maugus was wearing but nothing like that.

A grin spread over his previously slack features, this might be interesting. "Neat girl! You're pretty Strong!" he chimed out as she swung at him again. He sidestepped the blow, a feat that he had to put more effort into than he had estimated, the blue haired girl (She had wheels on her shoes for some reason he noted, what was with that?) threw a surprisingly fast punch.

Suddenly she lashed out with one of her wheeled boot's and nearly got him in the face. He lunged backwards to avoid it, falling back a few steps and running up against the warehouse wall. He chided himself inside, he had been going easy with his speed not really paying attention to the fight or expecting much from the girl.

"I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about killing my friends and come with us quietly. I'll make sure that you are treated properly." The blue hared girl said in a surprisingly earnest voice. She was now in a pseudo boxing stance but her face was open and honest, Lancer blinked, most Magus weren't that friendly sounding. _She actually means it..._ His grin faltered ever so slightly for a brief second... and then returned wider than ever his face turning into a grinning mask. This girl... was hilarious!

Subaru watched the blue Mage as he stood with his back to the wall, maybe it was her imagination but for a split second she could have sworn that he was considering her offer. Then it passed and he started grinning wider than ever, his eye's (Which were redder than even Fate's, what was with that?) widening in a way that suggested amusement more than anything. Subaru didn't like that, it was creepy and she hated creepy things. Time to knock this guy out before he did something weird. She lunged forward as quick as she could, fist aimed at his head but the man twirled forward and to the side faster then she could react and thrust his spear out hitting her in Mach Calaber's left skate. Subaru tripped and fell head over heals into the wall.

Qwint who had been watching the entire exchange from a few feet back gave a shout and ran at the blue spearman, twirling his storage device in front of him like a quarterstaff. Lancer literally did not spare the man a glance as he stabbed sideways, Gae Bolg catching the man in the throat. He gave a strangled "Hiac!" and fell clutching his neck.

"You surprised me girl, I was thinking that this would be boring but maybe you Mages have a little more to you then I though."

Subaru pulled herself to her feet, the blue spearman was standing there watching her with an amused expression. Whoever he was he was fast, at least as fast as Erio judging from how quickly he had dodged her blow and then tripped her in the same move. She could hear the others yelling in the background as they closed in on the him.

"Well, if their women are this strong then I wonder how good the real fighters are?" The man said cheerfully "Lets find out. And by the way nice outfit" he cooed at her and with that he suddenly jumped into the air just as she begun to charge him again.

Lancer sprung almost straight off the ground 20 feet in the air, pointing his spear downwards he fell back to earth right towards the middle of the Mage formation that had shot at him earlier. The Maguses did not gape at him like some people did when he pulled that trick off, instead they shot more of their magical bolts at him as he fell, some were shouting incantations at him now which resulted in a few beams of light that he surmised were stronger than the bolts they had used up till now.

None of the multicolored projectiles ever hit him, aiming at an airborne target most of the spells simply missed while he used Gea Bolg to deflect any that might have hit their mark.

Boric Marclov swore loudly as the airborn nutcase with the armed Device landed in the middle of his Formation like a bolt of blue and red lighting, his spear penetrated one of his better ranged attackers straight through his barrier jacket and spiting the unfortunate man clean thorough the chest.

Subaru raced forward trying to reach her teammates and tackle her slippery opponent the the ground, she winced as he stabbed the Ground Force soldier through the chest, that would put him out of commission for a few days at least... She gasped as the Spearman yanked his weapon back out. Rather than phase through the man knocking him unconscious, the Armed device had tore a gaping hole through him! Blood fountained out of the Ground forces soldier chest in a geyser, splattering all over the man next to him who shouted in surprise as he fell dead.

A mass weapon!The Spearweilding Mage was using a mass weapon to kill people! She thought to herself. She felt weak. Why would anyone...But Subaru had seen people die before and anger quickly replaced shock. This man had just killed somebody for no reason whatsoever, she realized. Moreover he was a normal person, unlike the Mirages who had no choice he could have easily used a normal device to fight, instead he had chosen to go out of his way to kill a law enforcement officer. She sped up her charge grinding her teeth together, she no longer had any doubt as to whether this man was one of those responsible for the incident.

In the middle of the Ground force formation Lancer twirled and spun like a dancer, thrusting Gea Bolge here and there with impunity among the mages who were clearly more outfitted for ranged battles. A few made clumsy strikes at him or tried to shoot him point blank with spells but he evaded them as easily as a butterfly evaded the hands of a clumsy child who tries to grasp it. The only thing that bothered him was that his clumsy opponents seemed to all have barriers of some kind that had so far prevented any of his strikes since the first one from being fatal. It was almost like armor, but not quite he noted with annoyance as a man he had stabbed just a few second's ago tried to shoot him again.

Focusing on the man that should have by all rights been bleeding to death on the ground right then, he jumped up 6 feet in the air puling his legs up under him to evade the bolt, then putting more strength than usual into the thrust he stabbed the man in the chest. Sure enough his strike was again met with way more resistance than the mans robes could have provided, it was like striking through plate armor he noted. It didn't save the man a second time though, after running up against the deflection spell for a split second Gea Bolge cut though it and entered the unfortunate Ground soldiers heart.

Another mark for Gea Bolge's bloody tally.

Pulling his weapon out again (and taking some meat with it on the barbs) Lancer spun around and again sidestepped a volley of Magic bolts from the Mauguses who had fallen back away from him and were again regrouped into some kind of shooting formation. As they shot they cursed and screamed at him in a way that suggested to him that these men were not exactly veterans of the battlefield. Even the big red faced one who he had marked as the leader was looking at him like he had never seen someone stab someone else with a spear before.

"YOU!" yelled a voice filled with furry. The blue haired girl on stakes was was back again shooting towards him at impressive speeds across the pavement. Lancer turned to face her, time to demonstrate exactly why he was a Lancer Servant.

Subaru drew back Revolver Knuckle, her opponent was just standing there with his bloodstained spear held loosely in his hand's smiling brightly at her, as if he was waiting for her to hit him. In that case...

Gathering magic and air into her fist she Shouted "REVOLVER!" she thrust her fist forward to release the spell. "SHO-

A split second before she finished the man leaped up faster than she could even follow and used Revolver Knuckle as a stepping stone to jump over her! "-OT!" The blast of compressed air shot forward hitting nothing while she felt the mans spear strike her hard in the small of the back causing her to stumble forward slightly.

Instead of trying to regain her balance perfectly she simply turned one of her skates inward causing her to swing around and face him. Rather than an opening in his defense like she had hoped she was immediately met with a vicious strike to the face from the flat of his spear blade followed by a stab in the belly only a split second later.

The two almost simultaneous strikes sent her over backwards onto the ground with an "oof!"

"Barrier at 75%" Mach Caliber announced mechanically.

"Get Back!" came a voice. Lancer glanced backwards, it seemed that the other melee combatant he had speared earlier had been saved from having his throat cut by whatever enchantment that these Maguss seemed to rely on. The man was now once again running at him twirling his odd metal staff in a pattern in front of him.

"Lousy cheep Magic tricks." he muttered under his breath as he turned to face the Mage again. Another volley of beams and bolts flew his way, he jumped and lay flat on the ground like a board to evade, as soon as the volly had passed over his head he threw his legs up in the air so that he was standing on one hand (Holding Gea Bolge in the other). As soon as the man got near enough to him he shoved of the ground at an angle with his arm propelling both his feet into the mans raised staff causing it to fly back and hit him in the head knocking him off his feet.

Twisting mid air Lancer landed on his feet and brought Gea Bolge down on the mans chest killing him.

"NO! QWINT!" Boric screamed. Whoever this was he had killed Qwint, there was no way that he would walk away from this with all his limbs intact. Abandoning the formation which had yet to land a single shot on his friends murderer he ran forward gathering magic around him.

Lancer turned to see the large red faced Magus who had been directing the formation break rank and run towards him.

After using Gea Bolg to deflect a bolt that would have hit him in the arm, Lancer readied his Spear deciding to wait for the man to come to him.

Instead the man stopped halfway to him, moving his staff in a strange pattern in front of him the man suddenly rose into the air, as spheres of reddish light gathered around him. " Dodge this $*$^&! Gypher Storm Multishoot!"

The balls of crimson luminescence ( almost 20 of them) suddenly shot towards him all at once stretching into longer rays as they moved.

Lancers grin never faltered, in the split second between the release and impact he was already moving. Lighting quick he deflected two of the red lances, pulled his arms in and leaped though the gap he had created in the storm of bolts coming out the other side unscathed.

Landing back on the ground after the bolts impacted he twirled his lance a few times theatrically and looked back up at the floating Magus. "Anything else you want me to do?"

Boric stared at the man, what he had pulled off he wouldn't have believed to be possible a few minutes ago. He was sinking back to the earth, the magic he used to levitate fading. It was useless, if this man could dodge that then... they needed backup, the possibility that they were all going to die at the the hands of the grinning madman suddenly struck him.

"No eh?" Lancer went on as the Maugus began to float slowly back down. "Nothing else at all? Well then!" With one swift motion he threw his spear at him. Just before he released it completely from his hand he sensed someone behind him.

In a flash of agility that would have confused most devices used to detect the speed of moving cars Lancer spun to the side, not fast enough. Something grazed his side and send a shock wave of force though his body.

He landed on his feet despite the pain that went though his rib. The next thing he heard was a low scream followed by a thump and a clatter.

The Blue haired girl had somehow managed to sneak up behind him while he was dealing with the floating mage and had tried to take him out from behind with her massive gauntlet. When he had sensed her and spun away it had apparently caused his throw to go off and instead of getting his target in the head it had penetrated his upper leg instead and caused him to fall to the earth.

As he looked the man made a very admirable attempt to pull it out despite the fact that it had sunk in past the barbs.

Lancer frowned as the blue haired girl ran over to the wounded man rather than charge him again. He needed his spear back.

Subaru rolled over to her fallen commander trying to remember what she could of first aid. The man was wearing one of the most intense expressions on his face that she had ever seen. His lips were drawn back in a snarl and his nose had gone so far up on his face that if she had seen it in any other circumstance she might have laughed.

It was not though, out of his leg protruded what was possibly the most menacing weapon she had ever seen. It had gone nearly 5 inched into his leg and blood was seeping out fast as he tried to pull it out.

Wrapping his fingers around the handle he tugged and tugged to no avail. Maybe it was better that way, from the look of things it might have been a mistake to pull it out.

"Medic!" Subaru shouted over at what remained of the ground soldier formation that was still shooting desperately at the blue warrior. Only 3 men were left.

One of them broke away and started running towards them. Suddenly he stopped halfway to them. "look out!"

Subaru turned around just as the Servant landed right next to her. She brought Revolver Knukel up but with one swift movement he garbed his spear, put one foot on Borics injured leg and yanked it out with a sickening noise.

Boric screamed louder than Subaru had ever heard anyone scream before and grabbed his leg with shuttering fingers while blood pulsed out.

Getting quickly to her feet again Subaru shot forward on her skates and tried to grab the once again armed man.

Backfiliping away from Subaru as she tried to grab his arm Lancer retreated keeping her between him and the Mages who were still trying to hit him with their magical bolts.

After three grabs that caught nothing but air Subaru gave up trying to grapple with him and started pounding away at him with Revolver Knuckle, lunging again and again with her power fist. The fight went on, even though she was going all out on the attack the blue clad warrior seemed to be practically insubstantial as he floating around her blows just enough for them to miss by a little each time.

Every once in a while he would lash out with his now gore drenched spear (Not that it contrasted much with it's original color) from a seemingly impossible angle and no mater how fast she tried to dodge of block he would jab her in the leg, or the arm, or the torso and then draw back quick as a mongoose before she could attempt to counterstrike.

Finally after one particularly powerful punch that was dogged like all the others, her opponent brought his spear up and jabbed her in the nose. She felt it break and spray blood down her chin as her barrier jacket weakened. At that she gave an enraged yell, while none of the jabs had fully penetrated her barrier jacket (Which was a good deal stronger than those of the unfortunate ground forces soldiers) they hurt badly. She started swinging even faster and harder, her eye's starting to change color slightly.

"Very good Girl." Lancer said as he dogged a punch to the ribcage by a few inches. "You almost got me with that one, maybe if you try just a little harder..."

Subaru threw a high kick at his face that he dogged by tilting his head back slightly. "Hey girl" he called out "I never learned you're name, your pretty skilled, and brave to, plus to tell the truth that outfit really does look quite nice on you-"

The Subaru barley heard him as the gears on Revolver Knuckle began to spin. "KNUCKLE DUSTER!" she yelled out as she lunged forward and punched the ground right in front of Lancer's feet.

Lancer jumped back in surprise as a large shockwave spread out from the area that the girl had punched throwing up chunks of concrete and making large crack's appear in the pavement.

He snorted as he landed about 8 feet back, _Wowie! That girl really is strong... faster than most to, I wonder if... did her eye's change color? _

Shrugging Lancer charged forward Gea Bolge leveled at her. T_ime to end this_. He didn't think that he would kill this one, he hated killing women and this particular one he wasquite impressed with. However there was still few people behind her that he needed to take care of and besides he was pretty confidant that he had the gist of her ability's down.

Subaru saw him coming , unlike all the other times he was coming straight at her, Spear positioned to impale her through the shoulder or neck.

Subaru gathered her magic in front of her as fast as she could yelling "Protection!"

Lancer jolted to a stop as Gea Bolge suddenly struck a blueish sheet of light that stopped his thrust almost completely.

The Shell of magial protection cracked and shook as it was struck hard by the Noble Phantasm. Subaru didn't notice though, she drew Revolver Knuckle back and once more gathered Magic around it and let fly. "REVOLVER SHOOT!"

A blue surge of compresses air and blue energy shot out of the end of her device. Lancer who was still trying to push through the protection shield, did not see her movement through the wall of blue static that he was attempting to penetrate and was hit head on by the blast and blown backwards though the air, limbs flailing in all directions. He hit the wall of the warehouse hard enough to make a dent and fell down to earth with a "Gah!".

The mages still in the formation gave a cheer as Subaru stood panting. "Good shot Master" came the voice of Revolver Knuckle. She had hit him. Finally she had managed to land a good hard hit on her super agile opponent. She started to smile but suddenly remembered something, It came so suddenly and clearly that it was like a voice in her head. It was the voice of Nanoha from one year ago telling Corona Timil that celebration of a minor victory was a great crime on the battlefield.

Subaru skated forward quickly, she was half way there when the criminal laying on the ground sprang to his feet eye's blazing, grin gone. Looking at her with a now grim expression he suddenly jumped forward into the air and brought his spear down at her head from above.

Again crying "Protection!" Subaru formed a barrier over her head that was struck three times by his spear as he passed. She turned around as fast as she could to face him again. He was now busy dodging bolts fired at him by the 3 remaining Ground forces. Instead of charging again Subaru backed up. Whoever this man was he was strong, very strong and tough enough to take a Revolver shoot point blank and then keep fighting. _Well, if that's the case then its time to hit with something harder..._

Concentrating Magic around her Subaru held her fist up aiming it at the man, the Magic Belkan Triangle expanding out around her feet and revolving as the gears on Revolver Knuckle began to rotate. The cartridge chamber opened with a hiss of compressed air as she loaded two of the magical cylinders.

Holding her other hand out blue energy begun to form circulating rings around Revolver Knuckle as a ball of energy formed in front of her fist.

Lancer finished dogging the last wave of spell's when he turned around and got a shock. From the looks of it the blue haired girl was preparing something big. Her gauntlet was doing weird things and what looked like a much enlarged version of what she had hit him with before was building up in front of it.

"I don't think so witch!" He yelled angrily, leveling his spear at her and rocketing forward as fast as he could.

Subaru pored energy into the spell desperately, it was so close! " DIV-! Ghe!" she screamed, The blue warrior was on her in a blur of speed, stabbing his spear straight into the incomplete energy ball that had been forming in preparation for Divine Buster. The shining globe of blue power broke apart and dissipated as it was cleaved through the center by the bitter red needle of a Noble Phantasim.

Subaru fell backwards as her foe stood over her looking grim. He pointed his spear at her chest the edge of its blade just inches away from her. She tried to bring Revolver Knuckle up but he stepped on her arm pinning it to the ground when she tried. She pulled up with it attempting to use her brute strength to throw him off balance but the man was incredibly strong himself and had the advantage off leverage.

Lancer stared down at his bested enemy, debating whether or not to kill her. It would make tactical sense considering her strength but then again... he **hated** killing women. And this one was an exceptionally commendable warrior, even as he held his blade to her chest she still struggled to get up. There was fear in her eyes but there was more defiance as she shot him daggers reminding his slightly of another warrior he had once known. _Besides, there probably aren't to many Mages among our enemy who come close to her skill... I wouldn't want this Crusade to become boring... _

Lancer's debate was cut short by the sound of another transport screeching to a halt in front of the warehouse. The doors opened and more of the uniformed men pored out into the street. Lancer narowd his eye's, there were no less than 3 women among their number. What was with these people? He could see them letting the Girl he was standing on top of fight, she was stronger than any of the others but three more?

"More of you guys?" He said exasperated. He really did not feel like killing all of them tonight and it wasn't like he was forbidden from letting them know of his existence or anything, they would find out one way or another.

"Bahhh..." His face lit up again as he grinned down at the girl beneath him. She glared back. "Well it was fun but I gotta go. Catch you later, fiúntach namhaid." He hoped away as the Ground forces, Police and Enforcers closed in, then leaping straight up from the ground to the roof of the warehouse he disappeared from sight.

Subaru sat up. Around her the backup swarmed some checking on the fallen and others clamoring to pursue the man in blue. Vaguely she saw that Seargent Marclov was getting medical attention. The men who had been in her group were either speaking with the reinforcements, running over to her with worried looks or dead. She wrapped her arms around her knees and noticed that Revolver Knuckle was cracked where it had met the man's spear.

"Master, Barrier is at 30%, physical injury is minimal. Revolver Knuckle has sustained moderate damage."

"Thank you Mach Caliber" Subaru whispered.

She had just nearly been killed she realized, the only thing that had prevented it was the grinning maniac's... mercy? no. Remorse? Definitely not that. Subaru realized that she had no idea why he hadn't killed her. And the name that he had called her at the end, what was that? Another language she supposed.

The Ground forces soldiers surrounded her asking if she was alright in worried voices. She replied that she was fine. Finally after a little more of that she stood up and walked through the small crowd that had gathered around her towards Boric.

The gruff enforcer was in dire straights. His usual angry reddish face was serene and pail, a massive pool of blood had formed around him and he was covered in it. The medical officer was busy tightening a tourniquet around the base of his leg.

"Why don't you just heal him?" Were the first words out of her mouth as she looked down at the injured man.

The medic (Who was also soaked in Borics blood) turned on her with a foul look on his face. "Oh is that it! Why don't I just heal him eh? Do you think I haven't tried that!"

"Is he gonna be alright" Subaru asked simply. She would reflect later that week that asking a medic questions while he was trying to work on a possibly fatally injured man was not the wisest or most tactful thing she had ever done. She would then conclude at that later point in time that the pressure of the situation and the shock of seeing 4 people die caused her to behave irrationally. At the time however she just really wanted to know.

"How should I know you stupid &$(! He's bleeding reservoirs!" the Medic yelled at her still working at the tourniquet.

"Hey you shut up!" Shouted one of the men who had followed her over (She identified him as Lenic from the van) "We would all be dead if it weren't for her so watch you mouth you damn leech!"

"Oy! Whats going on here!" Shouted a man in an petty officers uniform.

"These two $(*&^#$ are bothering me while I try and help this guy that's whats going on!" the medic yelled hoarsely.

"Okay you two get back or I will have you written up!" the officer shouted. A general mass of hands pulled Subaru and Lenic away from the scene.

Subaru turned around to find a place to sit down, as she did so she noticed the body's of the 4 men that her opponent had killed during the fight. The other ground forces men had lay coats over them, but she could still see the wide pools of blood that were coming from under them. The Mysterious blue Mages last words to her rung in her mind '_well it was fun but I gota go. Catch you later,_ something something.'

Fun was the word that stuck out to her. Fun. He had just killed 4 people! How could he have said that it was fun!

Shaken from her very mild case of shock Subaru stormed over to the transport that they had come in originally and sat down next to two of the other members of her team who looked a little sick. She reflected that she probably looked similar except with a broken nose (That started stinging like crazy the moment she though about it). Dismissing Revolver Knuckle she wiped her face with her hand. It came back bloody.

"You okay?" one of them men siting next to her asked.

She looked up and smiled at him, the question cheered her up just a smidgen though she did not know why. "Yeah... Yeah I'm okay."

"Thats good... how's the bulldog?"

"...Im sorry... the Bulldog?" Subaru said confused and a little irritated, she was not in the mood for nickname's,

"You know, Marclov."

"Oh, oh yeah, that makes sense now..." Subaru though for a moment before falling back on the old technique that she used to comfort children she was rescuing from disasters. "Yeah! He is gonna be just fine! Don't you worry... son!"

The man looked at her rather awkwardly at her assurance"Well I guess if you put it that way." he finally replied.

They fell silent Subaru eventually getting back up and skating over to the main crowd of Law enforcement agents. More transports were arriving every minute, bringing with them all sorts. She went to see what she could do to help, after all, she was still alive whatever the reason. They would want to debrief her soon. It was going to be a very long night.

*Scene *

Caster gazed into the violet sphere that was cupped in her hands, she had watched the entire spectacle between Lancer and the strange TSAB Maugus with interest. Her plan had gone perfectly. Although Rider did not know it, it was she who held her Masters leash having ensnared his mind before he even summoned his Servant and joined the war. It was a tenuous hold and not complete but good enough to make him want to do what she wanted him to even if it made little sense.

By extension she ultimately controlled Rider without having to supply her with Mana or even without having her know it. It was the perfect set up except for one rather minor detail. Rider considered her Master a complete fool and Caster suspected that the purple haired Servant was keeping back some of her powers from her Master (and by extension, her). Not that it mattered, Rider would not be fighting her anytime soon and if for some inexplicable reason she needed to know what those power's were she could simply compel Riders Master to become curios enough to use a command seal to make her tell him. Besides since she knew Riders true name Caster felt that she had a pretty good grasp of the ancient monster's capability's

The little pawn pair had been very useful, so far she had compelled Riders Master to try and attack Saber and then watched the ensuing battle. Through this she had learned of the Saber's formidable combat prowess as well as Magical resistance.

Tonight she had learned much more. Compelling Riders Master to attempt to eliminate the Lancer Servant had only been the first step, setting the two up for a fight that she could observe she had gone and sent her Master's bodyguard to give the so called TSAB Mages a tip off of the fight going on. They had arrived even faster that she had expected them to, to her slight frustration before the fight between Rider and Lancer could reach a level that would really show her Lancers capability's.

The TSAB Mages had made up for it though. Wile most were as she suspected them to be, one had fought almost on the level of a Heroic spirit. Granted she had been soundly defeated by the Lancer servants superior agility, but during the fight she had demonstrated incredible strength and endurance that intrigued Caster. It was something that deserved her attention later. For now it was sufficient to conclude that the TSAB had some Maugus at there disposal who could pose a credible threat to the Heroic Spirits under the right conditions. Furthermore they were incredibly organized and from what she had learned of them so far from her other sources they had an immense pool of resources to draw from.

Caster gazed at the retreating form of Lancer through her crystal sphere. Perhaps rather than seek to undo the TSAB she could make use of its wide range of resources. If she could conceal her true action's from the Mages (something she was confidant of) she could provide them assistance against their aggressors while remaining hidden herself. She could eliminate the Servants who wold be dangerous to her while gaining intimate knowledge of the organization and ensuring that it looked in the direction that she wanted. All she would halve to do was establish a middle agent that would act between her and the TSAB and she could play both sides of the board with impunity. After that it would be simple, relatively, to gain agents within the TSAB who would direct it in the ways she wanted to go. Ensnaring the wills of others was something of a specialty of her's after all. First though she would have to find out who was in a position of influence, or of confidence and acquire that person. There were so many possibility's.

Gliding over into her work space that she had established in the bowels of her new lair, she set to work, it was time to familiarize herself with whoever was leading the search for her.

.

WOW Subaru had a bad day huh? Cheer up Sub- san your day will come! It just wont come without a lot of Servant Pownage is all.

Caster has been busy.

As far as Lancer's comments on the lack of greenery in the city, I realize that Crannagan is probably very nice as far as having parks, islands of grass and trees planted where they can be but Lancer grew up in a time where one could probably count on their fingers the palaces they could go and not see grass or trees. To him the city is stifling.

By the way I there were a few gaelic words in lancers dialog, look for more of these as the story goes on (By the way if any of my readers happen to know Gailc... well I wouldn't mind asking you a few questions)

Just in case, for those of you who are wondering what Gil meant by "We" its the royal plural. I figured he would be the type to use it at least from time to time.

By the way, the customer service employe that Will talked to would later, through a series of random events (Or fate), go on the become a huge Badass who would spend large portions of his life fighting Fedisian drug lords in the jungles of Umblay with nothing but the clothes on his back, a huge machine gun, a little magic and a ready supply of one liners. He would later go on to marry Carim Gracia's 5th cousin 3 times removed as well as nuke space fascist's from orbit. None of our protagonists ever learned of any of this however and it has no bearing on the story at all except to distract you with pointless speculation. Its a story that will probably never be written which is sad. Jay Ulming this chapter is for you, and the unrecognized awesomeness that you unleashed upon the world of Nanoha only to be completely ignored. This just goes to show all the badasses that Heroes run into who they never find out about. Rest in peace bro. Rest In Peace. :_(


	8. Chapter 8 Shallow Injuries and Soup

Ch 8: Shallow Injury's and Soup and the Royal Flower of Monarchy.

Subaru sat alone in the middle of the small debriefing room feeling miserable. It was one of those countless official feeling rooms that were rarely kept warm enough and subscribed to the traditional TSAB architecture of blue tiled walls and ceiling plus brown tile floor with a few fake plants in the corner and perfect lighting.

It did not make a good place for emotional recovery.

It had been only an hour since the encounter with the mysterious blue clad killer, immediately afterward there had indeed been a storm of personnel and officials all wanting to know what had happened and why half a squad of Ground force soldiers were dead. It had taken a little but once she had conveyed a rough sense of what had happened to the men in charge she was immediately given some first aid and then ushered into the back of a Ground Force transport with Lenic and the other two uninjured survivors.

They had quickly been taken to the district TSAB office and then split up. After another brief interview she had been told to await debriefing and that Inspector Hayate would arrive to debrief her shortly. A kindly looking older man, a technician of some sort had taken Revolver Knuckle saying that it would be returned to her shortly. Although she had been very happy when she realized that it was her old commander and friend Hayate coming that had faded after a little, anxiety from the fight dampening what would have normally been anticipation of the rare privilege of meeting a friend on the job. Instead she found herself nervously playing with a lose string on her shirt while thinking about the Blue Spearmans words to her, whether or not Sergeant Marclov was alright and where Lenic and the others were. It was a frustrating and pointless cycle of thought she knew, but at the same time trying not to think about it was just as useless.

Her thoughts were cut short when the door finally swung open after what seemed like an eternity.

There in the door stood Hayate and Fate both in uniform looking in at her with surprised and worried expressions.

Subaru felt a sudden and much needed rush of happiness and relief at the sight of her two old friends.

"Subaru!" Hayate called out walking over to her quickly. "I had heard that it was you but I... Subaru-Chan?"

As her old commander walked over Subaru suddenly felt that something was choking her. As Fate and Hayate approached her eyes begin to water. The dam broke all at once and as tears unbidden started running down her face she bowed her head and started crying softly into her shirt sleeve.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up briefly, Hayate was leaning over her with a concerned look on her face.

"Hayate.." She made out between sniffs.

Hayate leaned down and hugged her warmly around the head patting her on the back lightly while she went back to crying miserably into her own arms.

"There you go, your alright." Hayate said soothingly after a little, still patting her on the back. Subaru sniffed a few times more and then lifted her head up wiping her eyes groggily.

"I- Sorry about that" she said awkwardly looking up at the other faces in the room. Not only was Hayate and Fate in there with her but to her surprise Signum as well, the tall pink haired knight wearing her brown First Lieutenant uniform rather than her armor was standing behind the two surveying her with a stern expression. Next to Signum were two other men in uniform that she didn't recognize. One on the right in a ground Forces uniform was looking at the entire scene with something like embarrassment while his partner, a small man in formal civilian clothing with very piercing eyes was shooting her impatient looks.

Attempting to regain some of her dignity Subaru sat up straight and made to wipe her nose with the back of her hand only barely remembering in time that it was broken.

"Don't worry Subaru, its alright" Fate said also drawing close.

"Hayate, Fate... Signum... its good to see you again." She made out as they came in one by one.

"What happened Subaru? Are you injured?" Fate said her voice full of worry.

Subaru shook her head. "No, its only a few scratches."

"Im sorry that this was so abrupt, we can continue this later if you want." Fate went on.

Hayate nodded smiling down on her with her hand still placed warmly on her shoulder.

"No" Subaru said, her voice becoming much firmer. " We need to do this now, that murderer is still out there."

"Very good Subaru." Signum said, speaking up for the first time. Her usually hard voice was softer now, and as Subaru looked at her she saw that the old Knight was smiling softly at her now.

"Signum" Hayate said turning to her friend in surprise "are you sure that this is the time?"

"Yes Mistress Hayate." Singum said firmly "Subaru has grown stronger than she was and she has said so herself that we must continue."

Fate looked conflicted for a moment but then nodded and turned to Hayate who still looked doubtful.

Subaru straightened up even more in her chair. Aside from a slight redness of the eyes one could not have told that she had been crying. Signum rarely handed out praise, and hearing the stern woman give it now, when she had been weeping only a few seconds ago made her feel suddenly more composed than ever.

"Thank you Signum-San." She said, Signum giving her a small smile in return. "Lets begin please, Hayate, Fate."

After giving her one more concerned look Hayate nodded and signaled the others in the room to sit down. Fate, Signum and the other three men all took chairs at the table, there was just enough room for all of them, and sat down beside each other, one of the men producing a briefcase that he laid on the table.

"This is Inspector Leon Amano" Fate said gesturing to the man who had been giving her impatient looks. "And Colonel Harren Perice of the Ground Forces." She said introducing the other Officer, a tall man with light blond hair wearing an Officers cap along with his uniform.

"Tell us what happened" Hayate said in a much more businesslike tone than before "We are working on getting the video record off of Revolver Knuckle and the Standard device used by Private Lenic but we would like to hear your testimony first. Reports say that you tried to apprehend two Mages who were fighting and that the situation escalated into a battle. From the report more than half the men in your squad were killed and the Officer in charge is in critical condition."

"Yes that is what happened" Subaru said slowly. She felt calm enough to go through the debriefing now but wondered where to begin. When she looked back on it the entire thing felt like a blur.

"Yes... as you know I'm not normally involved with the Ground Forces but when you put the mobilization order out my Disaster Relief Squad was split up and I was put with a Ground Force unit."

Hayate nodded and Subaru continued after a small pause.

"Well... we got a anonymous call reporting two Mages having a magical battle in front of a warehouse, we deployed immediately. When we got there there were two Mages, a man and a woman, fighting just like the report said." Subaru paused for a moment envisioning the two as they had come upon them, they had interrupted the two in the middle of a fight, she was certain of that though they hadn't ever actually seen them exchange blows. A vision of the beautiful purple haired woman flashed through her mind, who was she? And come to think of it why had she sensed no magic from either of them?

"We told them them that they were under arrest and to throw down their Devises. Ah... their Devises..."

"Yes? Were they using Intelligence Devises?" Fate asked.

"No, they were... they were armed devises I think... but it was very strange." Subaru said not sure how to describe the strange weapons that the duo had possessed. The Spear that the man in blue had wielded had been engraved irrevocably in her mind for the past hour but suddenly when she had to describe it she was at loss for words.

How **could** she describe it? The way it drew the eye and sent shivers up the spine, how it was so vividly crimson that she had almost mistaken it for an energy weapon until it had impaled one of her partners, the way it blurred and caught the light when the red eyed man had used it. It wouldn't do to try and describe it properly, not in a debriefing.

"Yes?" said Hayate prompting her out of her musing.

"They both had armed devises, one was a spear..." Subaru swallowed before going on "And the other had a chain of some sort."

"I see"Inspector Leon interrupted. "So, if these are the same culprits who have been responsible for the ongoing incident then we know that they have access to magical armaments."

"Well, you see that's the strange thing" Subaru blurted out interrupting Leon in turn "throughout the whole time I couldn't detect any magic from any of them."

The table went silent, everyone regarding her with expressions that were either confused or alarmed.

"Are you serious?"Leon said after a little. "You could sense no magic from them whatsoever?" He looked quite taken aback.

"Well... I could sense something... but it was so faint that I could hardly feel it at all. Even when we fought it was only a flicker."

Leon stroked his chin slowly giving Subaru a careful look that made her feel rather uncomfortable.

"That is a mystery for another time." Hayate broke in, much to Subaru's relife. "Please continue"

"Yes of course. We orderd them to put their Devises down and submit to arrest but they ignored us. The Seargent ordered his men to fire on them but they dodged all of the shots."

Subaru paused again. She half expected somebody to say something but they were silent.

"Then one of them, the woman with the chain ran away, the other one, the man in blue called her a coward. The Sergeant ordered us to subdue him so we tried to knock him out but he was so fast... I couldn't... I couldn't beat him." Subaru finished in a small voice.

"So." Signum said, her voice dark "This one Mage was fast enough to dodge the attacks of a entire squad of Ground Force Soldiers as well as you and then kill half your men before reinforcements arrived."

Subaru said nothing watching Signum as the old Knight looked her over, her eyes moving from the bandage along her nose to the two bandages that were wrapped around two shallow cuts on her side. She had received them from the Blue Spearman when her Barrier Jacket had begun to weaken near the end of the fight.

"Whoever this man is he is most likely involved in the incident, we must be careful, if the enemy has a Mage of that caliber working with them then we will need to double the size of the ground force patrols to prevent further casualty's."

"There is no way to tell for sure if these are the ones that are responsible." Leon said giving Signum a sideways look. "They would not have been fighting each other if they were working together. We may have to consider the possibility of multiple factions working in this city. Either that or the presence of a powerful civilian vigilante Mage who was also working to track down the culprits."

"Please" Fate cut in "it is useless to speculate until we have seen the video footage"

Signum and Leon both stopped and gave small nods before turning back to Subaru.

"Well" she said after realizing that they wanted her to continue "He was very fast, at least as fast as Erio." (Fate raised her eyebrows at that) "He dodged almost all of my strikes and was able to maneuver around me almost effortless."

"What magic style did he use?" Fate asked, looking at Subaru's bandages as if to ascertain what kind of spell had caused them.

"I-I didn't see, he used only melee attacks." Subaru said somewhat surprised at her own revelation. Come to think of it, had he used any complex magic at all? "He didn't even use any shields now that I think about it."

There was a stir at the table, Signum's eyes narrowed suddenly and she crossed her arms over her chest stiffly. Fate and Hayate were similar but Leon simply raised his eyebrows. "Hm? A pure melee specialist? Isn't that rare?" he asked turning to Fate "Using only melee attacks?"

"Very" Signum answered for her "And there are very few in this day and age who could defeat Subaru using only such methods, whoever they are they must be very skilled to have pulled of such a feat."

Subaru didn't know whether to feel complemented or discouraged by the exchange between the two. One one hand Signum had just compared her power favorably to that of the warriors from her Era, a complement that she once could only have dreamed of receiving, even if only indirectly. But at the same time she couldn't help but feel weird about the way Signum's voice sounded almost respectful of her bloodthirsty adversary.

She was wondering whether or not to say anything when the door opened and the older man from before stepped into the room holding Revolver Knuckle carefully with both hands. " Inspector." he said addressing Hayate. "The video record has been extracted and is ready for inspection."

"Thank you." she said taking the small crystal that Revolver Knuckle had become and placing it on the table. The older man gave a short bow and left closing the door after himself.

"Well, are we ready?"

Everyone at the table nodded, Leon taking out a notebook and flipping to a blank page.

"Subaru-Chan" Hayate said turning to her again. "If you want to you can wait outside while we inspect this. I think it would be better if you did in fact."

Subaru paused and looked at Revolver Knuckle. She sat half way up... and then sat down again. "I'm alright" she said uncertainly "I will stay, there might be details that Revolver Knuckle didn't get."

"Are you sure Subaru?" Fate joined in giving her a pleading look. "It may be much worse than you think to see it so soon after."

"I am alright. That man is still out there, if I cant face this then how would I be able to face him again in a fight?"

"Im sure that wont be necessary-" Hayate started but Subaru cut her off, her voice suddenly firm.

"I am fine. Play the video please."

Hayate gave her one last concerned look before she reached over and held her hand over Revolver Knuckle. "Inspector Leon the lights please." The hawk faced inspector got up and went to the door turning the light switch of. Hayate made a waving motion with her hand materializing a small translucent touch screen mid air above the device. After taping a few buttons a large telecam filled the end of the room.

Subaru watched with a creeping feeling of dread as she once again saw the ground solders that had been her squad mates pile out of the van in front of her on the camera. In a few minuts half of them would be dead. At the point in time she was looking at now what could she have done differently? The thought scratched at her mind as she watched them all file out. The camera caught the first shot of the two Mages standing there facing each other but looking at the new arrivals, Purple and Black facing Blue with dashes of red. Knowing what was coming Subaru started to wonder if leaving now wasn't such a bad idea.

"Pause it." Hayate said. The image froze with the two Mages turned towards the camera fully.

Subaru was once again stricken by the Black clad woman's resemblance to Lutecia and her mother.

Everyone in the room leaned forward slightly. Now that there was time to study them she was struck with the rather awkward realization that the purple haired woman was also divinely beautiful.

On the other side of the screen was her enemy, the man in blue. Caught on camera he made for an impressive figure, even after what she had just gone through she had to admit that he was very handsome, with a rough but dashing look about him. He surveyed the camera with a look of mild curiosity in his red eyes as he held his enormous spear nonchalantly over his shoulder.

"That woman is... Blind?" Leon asked squinting at the blindfold that the Black clad lady wore.

"How strange." Fate agreed giving her an equally curious look. Subaru had a feeling that she was referring to more than just the blindfold. "It could be some sort of device designed to enhance her sight, Or grant it if she is blind."

"How strange" Hayate said after a little while "I cant see their devices cores. It is strange for them to both be so inconspicuous."

Subaru gave their weapons another look. As magical weapons, Devices drew there power from a magical computer located somewhere on the device itself. Usually this was a crystal or something like it but it was usually obvious enough to pick out quickly. However no mater where she looked she couldn't find any on the Armed Devices of the criminal pair.

"Strange Mistress, but not impossible." Signum said also studying the weapons on the screen. "In the old days of Belka Device cores were not as obvious as they commonly are now. It is entirely possible that they are using Devices that attempt to imitate the old Belkan style."

"Aside from that there are a myriad of other reasons for this" Leon said looking slightly impatient. "I suggest we continue the video, as strange as those details may be they are of little consequence for now."

Hayate gave a nod and the video resumed, the two figures springing back to life in front of them, reenacting perfectly what had happened only a few hours earlier.

It was grim watching, Hayate wore a stony expression and Fate and Signum looked on intently as the Blue Spearman danced around Subaru and took the ground forces squad to pieces effortlessly in front of the camera.

Subaru sat watching the screen with a unshakable sense of deja vu that grew worse as the session went on. Watching the battle now she couldn't help but feel like she was watching the slow clumsy movements of an idiot. She had been so close so many times! Why couldn't she have hit just a little faster, or have aimed only a little farther to the right?

The video dragged on. Much to Subaru's quiet annoyance Signum insisted upon stopping from time to time and re-watching certain parts of the fight, particularly when her opponent had displayed notable feats of agility or speed. Indeed as it went on the Subaru could not help but note a change in Signum.

Though her expression never wavered Signum seemed to wax even more intent upon the footage as it went on, a strange and uncheerful gleam forming in her eye as she watched the deadly Spearplay of the Blue Mage. Subaru wasn't the only one to have noticed Signums either. Halfway through she noticed Hayate and Fate also stealing curious glances at the Belkan Knight.

Finaly, after what seemed like half an hour to Subaru the video neared its end. She grimaced, she had been dreading this part in particular.

On the screen the figure of the mage in blue loomed over her smiling. "Bahhh..." his voice came over the audio just like it had only an hour ago. "Well it was fun but I got to go. Catch you later, fiúntach namhaid." With that he disappeared from the camera jumping away onto the roof of the building above her.

Hayate after confirming that that was all stopped the film. The room was quiet and the last statements of them man echoed in Subarus head worse than ever.

"Well Mistress." Signum said slowly. "It seems that you will require the strength of the Wolkenritter after all."

Her statement made Subaru's last hopes fall. If even Signum acknowledged the Blue Mages strength then who knew what that meant.

Hayate was looking at the screen rather forlorly. "So, we have a powerful criminal on our hands. This is worse than I thought, now that the criminals have somebody like that with them then this will be much more dangerous."

"This keeps getting worse" Leo said suddenly looking as tired as Subaru felt. "I will to inform all units of this new development."

"See that you do" Fate said "And get somebody to identify that Language. If we can figure out where he comes from they we could make a major break through in identifying the criminal's."

Leon nodded and began writing in his notebook again.

"Tell me Signum" Hayate said turning to her adopted family member "What do you think. Is he a S ranked Mage?"

"He is definitely very skilled with that spear, better than I have seen in many, many years." Signum said with a touch of nostalgia in her voice. His fighting style is nothing I could identify but his agility is excellent. I don't know about his Mage rank, but his strength is certainly great in any case." Signum leaned forward in her chair, the gleam in her eye fully formed, she smiled, a small and crooked thing, but one containing limitless depths of subdued anticipation.

"I would very much like to fight him."

*Scene *

It was early morning in mid when the Uraias landed in Central Cranagan Spaceport and released it's cargo of passengers into the city.

Holding his luggage in both hands, a young boy of about 16 with very red hair stepped out into the terminal. Erio Mondial looked at the clock that hung on the far wall. It was 7 in the morning, quite a time difference from Surpools where it had been late afternoon when they had left almost exactly 24 before. Diverse crowds of people moved through the terminal in front of him reminding him of the larger population that inhabited Mid-Childa.

He smiled, the quiet atmosphere of Surpools was definitely nice, but after a while it lost it's novelty and being back in Mid felt almost like waking up from a doze. His family was here, many of his friends were here and while he didn't strictly live in Mid, arriving had always carried the sense of returning home.

"Wow it sure has been a while" Said Lutecia Alpine gushed coming up behind him.

Erio nodded haply and turned around. As he suspected Lutecia was empty handed while Caro was as loaded down as he was with their suitcases. Behind both of them was Megane Alpine, Lutecia's mother. dressed like her daughter in a rather frilly purple dress that matched her long equally purple hair. She was frowning at her daughter, looking rather worried at her lack of consideration.

"Lutecia, help Caro with her things." The tall matron called out in a stern voice.

His purple haired companion giggled and turned around to relive Carlo who was struggling under the weight of both of their belongings. Carlo looked rather relived as Lutecia took her share and the four of them set off across the terminal together looking around happily at the sea of busy faces that swelled around them.

Although it had been over a year since Erino had been on Mid, the main reason for their return was in celebration of Lutecia's release. While the purple haired summoner had initially been content to serve her full sentence on Carnaaji with her mother, Megan Alpine would not hear of it. Worried that her daughter would spend her teenage years alone apart from the sparse visits that she got from Erino and Caro, Megan had bent over-backwards trying to negotiate an early release. Eventually, with the help of a sympathetic lawyer and support from virtually every member of the former Riot Force 6 team she had secured her beloved daughters full liberty as well as enrollment in St. Hilde Academy of Magic. Buying a house in Cranagan, Meagan had decided that their move would be permanent, the old house on Carnaaji was now being renting out to vacationers. So it was that as of two days ago all that remained of Lutecia Alpines criminal sentence was her power limiter. As soon as Erio and Caro had heard they had arranged to go back to Mid with her.

Going through customs took about 5 minutes. As only Erio and Caro could technically claim the status as residents of Mid they were required to go through a very brief inquiry after which the customs agent waved them though with a smile and they were free to go.

"Is it just me or there a lot of people trying to get out?" Luticia said bemused as they passed the customs gate that led in the opposite direction. Being a frequent comer and goer in Erio knew that normally the gates in and out of Central Crannagans spaceport were crowded, today however the line was simply massive. The crowded swell of people all trying to get off of Mid stretched all the way across the terminal and looked to strain even the large spaceports capacity's.

"What happens if they get overcrowded?" Caro asked Megane as they passed the long rows of people headed in the other direction.

"Overcrowding is not something they have to worry about around here" Megane said smiling at Caro. "this place was made to support the traffic of all Crannagan in an emergence. If things get out of hand they have more terminals that they could open. In a real crisis this place could potently take hundreds of thousands of people at once."

"Ohh..." Caro said her eyes looking back at the crowds in wonder. "That many?"

Megane laughed and smiled even more"Yes" She said. "Though to tell the truth I don't think I have seen this place this crowded in years. I wonder if something happened?"

Together they made there way through the rest of the spaceport, it was a gigantic complex and just getting out of the main building was quite a walk. In the end though they found themselves exiting the front doors of the building into a huge parking lot packed with cars.

"How are we ever going to find Fate in all this?" Caro asked dismally surveying the landscape of vehicles and people moving to and fro.

"Ha! I don't think we have to worry about that." Luticia said pointing over to a pair of familiar figures walking towards them.

Erio looked over and felt his face split into a wide smile. Coming towards them were the two former Numbers, Deice and Sein, the later smiling cheerfully at them and waving while the former wore a more reserved smile.

"Deice! Sein!" Caro called out, she dropped her luggage and ran to meet them.

"Caro!" Sein called back walking forward faster to meet her.

The two met halfway in between between and hugged, Sein nearly carrying Caro off the ground before the bubbly cyborg looked up at the rest of them with a almost explosively happy expression. "And the rest of you!" she called out ecstatically before running over to hug Erio.

The young redheaded boy gave an "Ooof!" as Sein caught him in a crushing bear-hug that almost forced the air from his lungs.

"Sein..." he gasped out "Its good to see you to."

Sein let go of him and looked him up and down. "Hmm, you haven't gotten any taller sense we last met, to bad I thought that you have caught up with Luticia by now."

Erio went a little red and gave out a "Gah!" as Sein turned to Luticia and her mother. Her smile became more subdued as she surveyed the two. Even after all had been reconciled over the events during the Scagatei incident, Sein still showed a greater degree of reservation towards Luticias Mother. Considering that she had basically been held ransom by Jail in the incident as a form of pressure over Luticia it was only natural.

Rather than run over gushing Sein gave a polite bow to the two of them. "Mrs Alpine, Luticea" she said smiling "Its wonderful to see you two again."

"Its good to see you as well, Sein." Megane Alpine replied warmly. Luticia nodded and gave a curtsy to her former partner in crime.

Behind them Deice had reached them at her slower pace and next to Erino and Carlo.

"Hello Erio, Caro." She said softly.

"Ah! Deice!" Caro said looking up at the tall brown hared girl with a bright expression. The two huged, this time much more sedately than Sein had, in fact the stoic tomboy still looked a little awkward while hugging and kept it brief. Although Deice had opened up considerably since her rehabilitation she was still one of the quietest of the former Numbers.

"Welcome back to Mid" She intoned softly, smiling at the four of them, her hands folded in front of her.

"Well, its been almost a whole three years since I last saw you." Carlo said looking up at Otto warmly.

"I thought that you would look more different."

Deice just shrugged softly and continued to smile back at her. In the background Sein had begun to chat away with Luticia and Megan like she wanted to compensate for all the time they had been apart.

"Ah." Erio said after a little "Where is Fate?, did you get separated somehow?" He begun looking around for her, hoping to spot her trademark head of hair that he always looked for.

"I'm afraid that your mother is not here." Otto said, a touch of worry present in her voice.

"What?" Erio said in a slightly shocked tone of voice, his head wiping around to give Otto a rather blank look. It was unlike his adoptive mother to miss their reunion after almost two year's of being apart. To tell the truth he had been looking forward to greeting her in the spaceport more than anything else, her absence stung him slightly. "Did something happen?"

Deice looked at Erio carefully before saying "I forgot that you would not know this, but there is another Incident going on."

"What! What happened! Is everybody okay?" Erio blurted out. Behind him the others stopped talking abruptly at his outburst.

"Fate is fine, as is everyone else. However there has been a sudden string of murders and she was assigned to the case, it is apparently quite urgent and she couldn't find the time to come. I'm sorry." she added sympathetically.

Erio gave a nod "I suppose so." he said a little crestfallen.

"What has happened?" Megan asked walking up to the two of them tailed close by Caro, Luticia and Sein. The three younger girls crowded around in a circle about Deice and Erio looking apprehensively curious.

"There is another incident going on." Deice said again, this time a little unnerved at the attention the announcement had gathered. "Fate was unable to come with us I'm afraid."

Caro let out an "Ohhh!" while Lutecia raised an eyebrow. "Is it very bad?" she asked sounding only mildly concerned.

Deice gave Lutecia a look that the tall purple hared girl couldn't quite place before smiling again pleasantly. "Don't worry, it's nothing that Fate and Hayate can't deal with, I will tell you more about it later, for now lets get you back to the house." with that she reached over and plucked the suitcases from Caro's hands, Sein doing the same for Luticia. Turning everyone set off across the lot together, Erio burning with curiosity at the news of the incident.

Ten minutes later and they were packed into cars, Deice and Sein had both driven one, as the six of them and their luggage would not all fit into Deice's little five person car. Deice and Megan rode together in one with the lugage, while Erio, Caro, Lutecia and Sein rode together in the other.

It was a merry drive to the Takamachi house from the airport. Hearing about the Alpines move, Nanoha and Fate had agreed to let Luticia and her mother stay with them until the transition was completed. Much to Caros pleasure they had accepted, and were to be sharing the same roof for the next week.

The drive took around an hour though to Caro it truthfully felt much shorter, Luticia and Sein chattered away together while sunlight streamed in though the windows. About halfway through Erino fell asleep and leaned her head against his shoulder, an action that sent funny prickles down his arm. The only thing that marred the idyllic car trip was a slight notion of worry for his mother that he couldn't dismiss completely.

"Welcome home." Sein declared when they finally pulled up in front of the Takamachi house alone. They had beaten the other car by several minutes, Sein preferring to drive faster than her more reserved sister had lost the slower car about halfway through the drive.

"Wow its been a long time since I was here last" Erio said making a move to get up. He stopped, Caro's head was still buried in his shoulder and she was drooling ever so slightly sound asleep.

"It was a long trip I take it?" Sein said looking at Caro with a funny little expresion like she had just seen something cute.

"Well no, but there is a several hour time difference between Mid and Carnaaji and I think that Caro was up late last night." Erio said hesitating to disturb Caro by getting up.

Sein smiled reaching over and shaking Caro gently. "Were here" she whisper in the sleeping girls ear.

Caro opened her eyes sleepily and then quickly sat up blinking. "Are we there already?" She chirped out looking around at the change of settings. She suddenly gasped as she laid eyes on the house they were parked in front of.

"Ahhhhh! Its been so long!" she exclaimed suddenly wide awake and beaming. Caro opened her door quickly and bounded out leaving Erio siting there looking after her.

"Ah, Caro is still such a little girl isn't she." Luticia snickered as Caro ran around the side of the car and up the drive way.

"It's been more than a year Luticia. You shouldn't say things like that." Erio said giving the purple haired girl a slightly defensive look. "Come on lets get out." Erio hoped out of the car, Luticia right behind him and started up the driveway to the door.

Caro had beaten them to it and was standing there looking at the door with barley contained anticipation. Erio although more composed than his friend was still felt what was nearly a sense of giddiness come over him as he waited.

"Nanoha!" Caro shouted when the door finally opened reveling the beaming face of their old combat instructor.

At the sight of them Nanoha gave a joyful cry and swept down on Caro and Erio warping them in a firm hug "Caro! Erio!"

"Luticia!" Came another more high pinched voice. Luitica giggled as Vivio came running through the door and threw herself into the arms of the older girl.

Standing in the doorway behind Nanoha Erio saw Vivios friend Einheart, dressed in a simple if slightly frilly dress with her pail blond hair done up into long ponytails, had also come out to meet them though she stayed where she was and didn't run out to smother them with affection, instead simply watching them quietly with a smile.

"Well" Erio said smiling up at Nanoha as she let go of him and ruffled his hair with her hand. "We're back"

.

Nanoha opened the door of the spare upstairs bedroom and gestured inside with a smile. Erio, Caro and Luticia all peered in curiously. Behind them Vivio was nearly jumping up and down with excitement next to Einheart while the three looked in. What had once been a simple spare room that was used as a storage area had been transformed into a rather extravagant bedroom complete with a bookshelf three beds beds and three dressers in separate corners of the room. The walls had even been repainted since Erio had last seen them, having a nice glossy purple sheen rather than its former plain white coat. Over the walls twining green vines and other swirling designs had been painted with great care and attention creating the sense of a canopy where the wall and ceiling met.

Caro gave a little gasp of delight while Luticia stood still for a little before letting out a strange "uweee!", running into the room and twirling around in circle, her long skirt fanning out cutely around her ankles. Erio gave a small nod. He had to admit that it looked nice though he felt it was a little to girly for him.

"Well?" Vivio chimed out sounding like she had been waiting in anticipation for this moment for a very long time.

"Its wonderful" Luticia sung twirling around a second time. "How long did this take?"

"Oh we did it in about four days, with Vivio and her friends helping" Nanoh said giving the designs along the top of the wall an appreciative look.

Caro turned to look at Vivio who was standing behind them beaming"You did this?" She asked surprised but pleased at the same time.

Vivio nodded enthusiastically "Yup!" she said grabbing Einheart by the arm and puling her embarrassed friend forward. "Me, Einheart, Lio, Corona and Nanoha Mama all did it together" She said with a huge grin.

"Wow." Caro said "You had quite a party over didn't you?"

"Mmhmm" Vivio hummed in affirmation, shaking her somber friend by the arm back and forth as she did so. "We all got together and painted for hours and hours. It was great! Nanoha Corona and Lio did the walls while me and Einheart did the designs!"

"Einheart? I didn't know you could paint." Ero said.

"Oh... well yes a little" Einhart said blushing.

Hun, you are still full of surprises Heidi." Erio said looking at the pail blond haired girl with a admiring smile.

She only looked back at him timidly as Vivio continued to manhandle her arm.

Einheart Stratos, was Vivio closest friend whom she had meet two years ago under strange circumstances. Like Vivio she was a direct descendant from the Ancient Belkan line of Saint Kings that had once been the great rulers of the cornerstone of civilization in the multiverse.

Unlike Vivio however Einheart had directly inherited a great portion of her ancestors memory's through the royal bloodline. In an ironic twist her ancestor had been none other than Claus Ingvalt, the lifetime friend of the last and most revered Saint King Olivie Segbrecht from who Vivio had been cloned. Along with the memory's of the ancient King, Einhart had also inherited a degree of his skills and experience in combat. Considering that Claus Ingvalt had been considered the strongest martial artist in the world at the time, matched only by Olivie herself, Einhart Stratos had received no small portion of power in adition to an adult combat form that she could shift into at will.

It had gone to her head, and Einhart had for a time, walked the city at night challenging various martial arts practitioners to duels. This had gone on until she had stumbled upon Nove one night and challenged the reformed combat cyborg to battle. It had, as far as Erio had heard, been quite a battle and although Einhart had overcome Nove in the end, she had received to much damage from the struggle and had passed out only to be taken in by the Nakajama sisters. After a while she had met Vivio and the two had eventually become friends, bonding over marital arts during the trip they had taken with the family to Carannja.

It was a long story, but ever after that the two had very, very close.

Erio shook his head internally, it was so strange sometimes how things turned out. It seemed that the crowd he had fallen in with had an almost infint capacity for attracting and befriending interesting people, to say nothing of Ancent Belkan royalty.

"Ah, What about Fate? Did she do the beds and furniture?" Caro asked giggling at the way Einhart's face was lighting up as pulling away from Vivios grip on her limb.

"Oh, no Fate Mama has been working for the past 3 days so she couldn't help us." Vivio said releasing Einherts arm and looking a little regretful. It passed quickly however "Come on! Let me show you the parts I did!" she said grabbing Caro by the hand and leading her into the room.

Erio looked on as Vivio, Caro and Luticia twirled about the newly created bedroom admiring the little details and other things that had gone into it while Einhart followed Vivio around pointing out some of the more complex paintings on the wall as her own.

Erio however stayed outside the door with Nanoha, the two of them looking on passively at their friends happiness.

"Nanoha?" He said after a little. Although he had never really forgotten about it, the car ride over and the ensuing reunion had mostly driven the news of the new Incident out of his head. Vivio had brought it the the forefront again with her comment, and he suddenly found himself alight with curiosity.

"What is going on? Sein told me that there was another Incident taking place, is Fate okay?"

Nanoha was leaning against the door watching the four with a matronly smile. "Eh? Oh" She said turning to him and looking slightly surprised that he had brought it up. "Fate is just fine Erio, but yes there has been a rather gruesome Incident going on here for the past few days before you got here. Fate was pulled away to work on it. So was Hayate and her family for that mater."

"Hayate is in charge? So Fate is with Signum and Vita?" Caro siad not knowing whether to be relived of more worried by this bit if information. On one hand if Fate, Hayate and the Workenwriter were involved then the incident was obviously more than a small crime spree. On the other hand no mater what was going on the Wolkenwriter were probably more than strong enough to handle it alone, much less with Fate's help so there wasn't really that much cause for concern about their safety.

"Yes, in fact Vita came by my office only yesterday to assemble a enforcer team." Nanoha said still leaning against the door.

"Hun?" They have more than one Enforcer team working on it?" Erio asked slightly alarmed "Nanoha whats going on?" he paused for a little thinking back on several things that he had half forgotten about till then. "And why are so many people trying to get out of Crannagan?"

"Ah..." Nanoha said looking at him and then back to the party in the room who were still looking around at the handy work of the Takamachi family and their friends. "Why don't I go show you your room now and I can tell you about it there, I don't want to ruin their good mood."

"Sure" Erio replied "You made a room for me to?"

"Ah well Vivio gave you her's, she'll be sleeping with Luticia and Caro." Nanoha said moving down the hall. She led him around the corner to another door and opened it reveling what used to be Vivios room. It had been refurnished, though not as extravagantly as the other had. Erio was rather relieved to see that it was no longer pink as he knew it once had been, though whether they had repainted it for him or if Vivio had just grown out of the color he didn't know.

"It's very nice" he said looking around.

"Thank you, though I'm afraid we didn't have time to give it as much attention as the other."

"So..." Erio pressed turning to Nanoha once again. She was surveying hm with a pleasant expression like Fate often did when she was feeling proud of him. "What is going on with the new incident?"

Nanohas expression reverted to normal again except for a hint of hardness around her mouth. "Well a few days ago a string of murders and disappearances started, it hasten stopped yet, and many innocent people have been killed or hospitalized. But worse than that even, children have begun disappearing as well." She added on the end in a harder voice.

"What?" Erio said giving Nanoha a disquieted look "They have been kidnapping children? Have they made any claims? Any ransom demands?"

"No I'm afraid not, they haven't said anything, just a lot of dead people and missing kids."Nanoha said sounding a little disquieted herself.

"How strange..." Erio said trailing off. _Strange is an understatement_ he thought, he hadn't seen anywhere near as much action as Nanoha had but Erio still knew that criminals never killed or abducted without good reason much less on a massive scale...

"Well, whatever is really happening Fate will get to the ones responsible." he said with conviction.

"Oh I know she will" Nanoha said smiling at him again " You know how she hates it more than anything when children are involved, when she first heard about it she got a little scary actually."

"I can believe it." Erio said turning his head to the ground. If there was one thing that moved his foster mother to passion it was the plight of children. It was that compassion that had led her to take him and Caro in when there was no one else who would and were it not for her duties preventing her from having the appropriate time, Erio suspected that she would have taken in many more.

Erio looked up again as he felt a finger on his cheek, Nanoha had leaned close to him and was peting the side of his face gently with one finger. "It's good to have you back Erio." She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the forehead.

"Hm, its good to be back" Erio said "I just kind of hoped to spend some time with Fate when she wasn't saving the world again." He finished sadly.

"Well, I suppose that we will have to take what we can get then." Nanoha said changing to a voice of false sternness. "Besides, once you have done it once, saving the world can quickly become an addiction. I will have to see if I can get you in on it someday, make good use of you skills besides fooling around looking after animals all day." She gave him a wink and then turned and walked out of the room.

Erio snorted, his humor suddenly much restored. "Hmp! Says the Lady who is stuck behind a desk half the day now." He called after her. He was rewarded with a mock gasp of indignation from the hall.

"In that case I will be checking to make sure that your skills are up to par young man." Nanoha called back at him.

Erio grinned and plopped down on his new bed. Why was it that every time he was back in Mid there was a new band of crazy's trying to tear the place down? Oh well, it wasn't like he would get involved this time around. _ Third times the charm_ a voice in the back of his mind whispered to him. He shook his head, got up of his bed and headed to the hall after Nanoha, he could still hear Luticias musical voice floating down to him from the newly made bedroom praising Vivio and Einhearts skill. It wouldn't do to sit in his room sulking till Fate got home. Third time indeed!

*Scene *

Saber walked down the street behind Will, looking at the various shops as they moved past. The place was so much like earth that it was uncanny. Of course it wasn't like the parts that she was used to in her life but from what she knew of current era from her times participating in the Heavens Feel, it wasn't very different at all, with the citizens wearing very similar clothing and following mostly the same daily patterns. Aside from the to tall skyscrapers and the occasional oddity one could hardly tell that it was a city on another planet where Sorcery was common knowledge.

It had been only a day after her foray into the TSAB military compound and the unwelcome visit from Gilgamesh, Saber had explained to Will as best she could the character and powers of the Golden Servant, a conversation that had left Will shaken even more that she had expected though he would not elaborate why.

The looming threat of Gilgamesh aside though, Saber was eager to begin the search for the grail proper.

Much to her frustration however they still had no idea where to begin looking. Wherever it was being kept Saber could not sense it and considering the size of the city that they were in looking for it with her ability of magical sense was a fools errand.

She had discovered so early that morning before the sun was up, when, in a bid to coordinate herself while Will slept she had scaled the tallest skyscraper that she could find and gazed out upon the city. She had received yet another shock for her efforts.

Although she had known that the city was much larger than any she had ever seen before, Saber was still unprepared for the shear vastness of the sprawling metropolis that greeted her gaze upon attaining the top of the chosen building. It spread out endlessly in all directions around her, cut of only on one side by the distant sea. Here and there there were patches of greenery and swathes of what looked like smaller houses among the buildings but for the most part the city was an unbroken block of gray infrastructure.

In the distance, capturing her gaze and dominating everything around them were a series of massive spires, shear and tall beyond her reckoning they rose into the sky to impossible heights. In the moment that she first gazed upon it all Sabers breath had faltered in her throat and her legs had, for a instant, threatened to lose their strength.

It was a threat that she had overcome through force of will. Awestruck as she was Saber had long ago made a conscious commitment to herself that she would never kneel before the works of another no mater how wondrous. It was a vow she had made to herself when she first laid eyes on Rome an eternity ago, and beheld the works of the ancient stonemasons in that faraway land. From then on the only time she had ever knelt before a building was to the alter during Mass and once to Camelot before the great setting out of her Knights in the Quest for the Grail.

That had been a different time though, and a different Grail. Now she was in a strange and utterly alien place, alone save for her Master who she was beginning to doubt.

It was not the time for being awestruck.

Turning from the incomprehensible scene she had made her way quickly back to her Master's side to keep vigil over him as he slept.

Now as Saber walked down the crowded street she wondered at how it looked so ordinary at the ground level.

"Hey Saber" Will called out to bringing her from her contemplation "I know that you want to get moving and all, but how about a little breakfast fist? I'm starving."

Saber frowned. There was a time not to long ago when she would have lit up at the request and even insisted upon it herself but so far her Masters tastes in food had proven to be appalling. The cold sandwiches that he had bought for them at the small deli had been the best food that Apart from her more serious concerns about her Master this little fact drove her half mad with irritation.

"Very well Master I suppose that it is important for you to keep up your strength."

Will nodded at her briefly, the two of them continuing down the street together, Will keeping his eye out for a place to eat.

Saber followed him closely thinking black thoughts about her fate of being summoned by a Master who seemed to never prepare a single meal only eating out of the small low class restaurants that he called 'Fast Food' .

On few occasions he had prepared anything it had been utter rubbish that she had felt no desire to touch. She had contented herself for the past five days, with trying to give him meaningful looks during meals and fondly recalling the fabulous if small diner that Archer had made at Rin's old Mansion before they had set out.

The looks however did not have the desired effect, and served only to make him look uncomfortable while eating. Despite her failure to secure better fare Saber had not felt inclined to stop, while not vindictive like Rin was, food was not something she took lightly. She was a King after all was she not? And Saber had to admit a certain satisfaction that she derived from her (admittedly petty) vengeance.

Will stopped suddenly in front of small restaurant that looked a lot like what Saber had come to expect fast food joints to look like. Though the window she could see people eating various things on plastic dishes. Will gave it a look for a little before moving on down the street. Saber gave it a look as they left it behind. While not a place that she would have enjoyed by any means it was still better than some of the places that they had eaten in before.

Apart from that the search for the Grail was not going well. Although they had managed to secure themselves temporary lodgings, being dumped into a city of such size without any reference at all had left them groping blindly in the dark. Even after getting a map and determining their location they were left with no clues as to where to even start looking. So it was that their current goal had been reduced to simply finding where to start looking.

Saber had originally wanted to simply find the TSAB capital building and storm it, take the place by force and demand the Grail at sword point. Such things were more her forte than the sneaking around that her Master seemed to prefer.

Will had been adamantly opposed to this idea, claiming that they would be surrounded and overwhelmed and that such tactics were not feasible even with her power. He had held that they would take a more subtle approach by finding where the Grail lay before reveling themselves. He wanted to find a computer, one of the more bizarre mechanisms of the current age, that would tell them who the TSAB scientist who brought the Grail in was.

Saber had been rather offended. The implication that she could be overwhelmed by Magi and Wills insistence on working in the shadows prickled at her pride. Saber knew where her strength lay, and it was not in subterfuge, the only thing that they had done so far. If things kept up like this she didn't know how much longer she could endure the blatant misapplication of her skills.

Saber suddenly paused. The smell of food was drifting through the air jerking her from her dignified sulking.

Turning her head to pinpoint the smell she found herself looking at another small shop with large letters painted on the window that spelled out "Soup Kitchen: the Best of Mid Childa". A small line of oddly tense looking customers was coming out the door.

Saber found it a nice departure from the rather gaudy signs that most of the restaurants displayed, and the smell that issued forth was tantalizing.

Her appetite that had lain dormant for the past five days suddenly opened one eye and sniffed the air.

"Master might I suggest that shop there?" Saber said keeping her voice carefully indifferent.

"Hmm? Sure I suppose that it would do." Will said tuning to look at the shop in mild interest.

Saber and Will stepped into line with the other customers. The line was moderately long but it moved quite fast, a rarity that did not go unnoticed by the two of them as they stood in they were waiting Saber heard sombody sudenly shout something from inside, causing her to look up. A moment later a woman nearly ran out of the shop, looking like sh was about to cry. The other customers all gave her oddly understanding looks as she moved past causing Saber to scrunch her eyes in bewilderment.

It was as the line neared the entrance that Saber noticed a sign propped up against the door.

It read in big letters : Pick the soup you want.

Have your money ready

Move to the **extreme** left after ordering.

Thank you.

Below it was a small list of what Saber assumed were soup dishes.

"Hmm, looks like they make you pick here." Will said giving the sign an irritated look "What a hassle."

After studying it for a moment and not recognizing any of the names even remotely she decided to just pick one at random.

"I will have the Mulligatawny, I think Master."

"Hun? You want to order?" Will said giving her a surprised look.

Saber shot Will a seething look that made him flinch back. "Master" she said coldly, If implication would not work it was time to stop being subtle "I don't know if you understand yet but I do enjoy eating from time to time."

"Okay okay" Will said backing up quickly "You know what? I apologize. Please, get whatever you want."

Satisfied Saber relented and turned around again leaving Will to stand behind her uncomfortably.

Moving into the shop Saber was greeted by a long steel counter behind which stood a dark haired heavily mustached man with a high hairline and a hard looking face serving soup from a ladle while a woman in a reddish suite bagged the bowls and collected money at the end.

In front of the counter the customers were marching forward, quickly spouting out there orders and then moving fast to the extreme left with something like fear in their step as they did so.

After the person in front of her moved on Saber walked up to the counter and gave the pots of soup behind it a once over though the glass. They looked and smelled absolutely delicious, with a fine wholesome looking texture that drew the eye. She felt her mouth watering, her previously mildly interested appetite was now wide awake and pacing back and forth licking its chops like a hungry dragon.

"Little girl, make you order." the man said sharply drawing her head back up to face which was looking down on her with a sour indifferent expression.

"Ah, forgive me Sir... what is that one there" she asked her voice curious as she pointed to a bowl full of a rich dark looking mix.

"That's Black Bean."

"Oh...and what is that one?" she said pointing to a thick white lumpy mixture.

"Please little girl!" he barked making Saber whip her head up in near alarm. "Did you not read the sign? Have your order ready when you come up!"

"I apologize good sir, in that case I will have Mulligatawny." Saber said giving a little bow as she did so.

"It's to late!" the man barked again his hard eyes grinding into hers, his expression stern. " You. Go to the back of the line." He said gesturing for her to move on and turned to Will in the line behind her.

Saber stood there for a moment in shocked disbelief before he turned back to her and shot her a menacing look. "Go!" he barked again pointing out the door.

Saber turned mechanically on her heel's and walked out of the shop wondering what had just happened.

She had just been dismissed she realized, by some lowborn cod of shopkeeper, who wouldn't even let her examine his wares before ordering! For a moment rage erupted inside her threatening to crack her iron composure.

Even as she fumed and contemplated smashing the shop to pieces however she remembered the soup. Although Saber had not tasted any of it it had been glorious thick steaming stuff that smelled as good as if not better than any she had ever smelled during her reign as King.

The Dragon that had awoken in her was lashing its tail back and forth inside her and belching out clouds of smoke that obscured even her smitten pride. She had eaten almost nothing in the past five days and while she did not need to eat it was one of her great joys and was not to be circumvented. Not after smelling that.

Swallowing her pride she turned smartly and walked with meaningful steps to the back of the line. Saber stood with her nose turned up in the air, looking at no one, ignoring even Will's questioning look as she waited for her turn to come again.

Finally, after a few minutes Saber found herself once again standing before the steel counter and its stone faced patron.

Walking forward Saber looked the shopkeeper in the eye as she gave him the most intense glare that she could muster. It was a look that oftentimes froze men in their tracks with the full force of a nearly divine level of Charisma behind it. The man did not give any sign that he noticed, his face completely dead pan as she walked forward.

"One Mulligatawny please."

Saber slid down to the far left of the line and waited watching him, her own menacing expression unchanging as the man dished out a bowl of the thick golden stuff from his ladle.

"Eight dollars and thirty seven cents." he said in the same hard tone that he had used before.

Saber slapped the money down on the counter where it was taken by the lady in the red who quickly bagged her soup in a long practiced motion and handed it to her expertly folded at the top.

Saber took the bag from the cashier and swept out of the shop with her prize clutched in her hand. Will was waiting for her outside with his own bag of soup unopened and a half amused half uncertain look on his face.

"So you got your soup?"

"Yes" Saber replied walking over to a small bench by the side of the road. Will sat down next to her, both opening their bags and retrieved the steaming fragrant contents.

Saber sniffed her bowl deeply savoring the smell as her mouth began watering uncontrollably. Seizing the utensil she dug it in and brought a spoonful of the soup to her mouth.

Sabers eyes shot wide open as her heart skipped a beat.

Next to her Will did the same. "Oh! Wow, this stuff is really good." he said his eyes lighting up as he quickly took a few more spoonful's.

Saber didn't even hear him. She chewed slowly and then swallowed, her eyes wide. Taking another spoonful and then another she struggled to keep he hands from trembling. On her seventh mouthful she came to a startling realization. It was not soup that she had been putting into her mouth. It was quite simply one of the best things she had ever tasted in her entire life.

"Saber?" came Wills voice. She didn't look up but kept staring into her bowl. The beast that was her palate shook its head back and forth and then roared. Saber let out a strangled "Aaahh!" and started devouring the rest of the bowl with a intensity that threatened to endanger her always impeccable manners.

Saber found her enthusiasm for the dish only grew as she ate more, it was so good that she couldn't stop herself from comparing it to Shirous cooking. For a moment she wavered, and then capitulated. Shirous cooking was magnificent indeed and had ever earned a special place in her heart, but even it couldn't compare to the masterpiece that she found in her hand.

Will watched Saber demolish the rest of her bowl with raised eyebrows watching as she moved the spoon back and forth between the dish and her mouth only slowing down when she reached the end. He was drawn back forcefully to the time when she had devoured most of the diner at the Mansion before she left. Her expression there had been similar but not as intense.

No sooner than did Saber finish her first bowl than she was up again and headed towards the line at

the door again.

Will ran up alongside her. "Hey ah Saber, what are you doing?"

"I am continuing my meal Master. She said simply, walking forward as the line moved up.

"Oh well that's the thing, ah, so you really need seconds? That kind of cost a lot for a bowl of soup and-"

"Master, as I have stated before there are certain requirements that one must make to ensure that ones troops remain content while in enemy territory. As a Kight and a former commander of men myself, I know a great deal about that." Saber said mater-of-factly.

"So then this is..."

"As your Servant it is my duty to educate you however I can so that you are capable of avoiding dangers in the future. In this case Mutiny."

Saber turned to Will giving him slow thin liped smile, the kind that she had used on Shirou when he was being an idiot during training. "So watch and learn."

Two minutes later Saber was on the bench again working her way though her second bowl of Mulligatawny as Will watched grudgingly. She enjoyed a small feeling of satisfaction now that their usual roles were reversed.

As she ate Saber felt her previously dour spirits begin to rise, however strange it might be Mid Childa could not be so bad if it had places like this. The threat of her supply of soup being cut off by a stingy Mater gone, and the delicious taste of the mixture present in her mouth, Saber soon forgot her mistreatment by the shopkeeper and after a little found herself talking rather amiably with Will as she ate. It was a big change in tone from their previous interaction that had all been rather formal and strained up till now.

"Eh, so tell me"Will said after a little "You seem to like that soup a lot, is it like something from your country when you were alive?"

"Oh, no not at all" Saber said in between mouthfuls "In fact its not quite like anything I have ever tasted before. Though to tell the truth I wouldn't mind tasting my native cuisine again. Done well that is" she added darkly, shuttering internally at the way much of the food in her land had been prepared.

"And what is that? If you don't mind my asking.'Will said with interest.

Saber looked at her Master evenly, so far he had not asked her anything concerning her identity, it was something she appreciated if found strange. Her identity was something that she had always held with a degree of privacy rare even among other Heroic Spirits. Among other things, the truth of her gender had always been a secret she had kept her entire life, it was not something she felt comfortable passing around.

She had been rather relieved and rather confused when Will had been content with her summary of her powers in the shed. It was something that would halve to come out sooner or later though. But not necessary right now.

"I'm from Logris, Albion is my home land." Saber said simply.

She paused. Will was looking at her with a blank expression. "Im sorry..." he said after a little sounding rather bewildered. "But I have never heard of either of those places."

Saber narrowed her eyes sceptically "Never heard of Albion? Surly you must know of the great Island country that..." She stopped, something that Rin had said long ago was tingling in the back of her head, something about the Clocktower Organization... "England, that is what it is called these days." Saber said puling her memory's from the last war out again.

"England?" Will said chuckling " Of course I know where that is, to tell you the truth I thought you were English. Never heard it called any of those other names though."

Saber raised her eyebrow " Never heard of them even once? I must say that those are its right and proper names. Not England, sounds as if it was named after the Angles."

Will gave he another look that told her that she had just gone over his head.

"So then" she said trying to shift the subject"What is your homeland? I can see plainly enough that you are a Westerner like me."

"Oh." Will said "I rather doubt you will have heard of it, it came into being long after your time. I'm From America."

"America?" Saber said trying to identify the name. It matched nothing that she had ever heard of in her life, though now that she thought about it, she seem to remember hearing about it in passing in the last Grail War. "I am afraid that it must indeed have been after my time" she said sticking her spoon into her now half empty bowl and smiling pleasantly. "Please, regale me with your nations history."

"Well" her Master said looking uncertain "Its a long story, and History was never my strong point."

"Nonsense, how could you not know the history of your own homeland? "

"Alrighty, if you want I could tell you." Will said scratching his chin and looking up like he was thinking where to start.

"Well... It all starts with the new world, you know about that?"

Saber inclined that she had, having heard about the monumental discovery of the two new continents in the 4th war under Kiritsugu.

"America is on the northern continent, North America its named... you ah, want me to start at the beginning?"

"Where else?" Saber said slightly irritated by her Masters thickheadedness even as she enjoyed her soup.

"Well America started out as a British colony a few hundred years ago and it grew from there."

Saber's face lit up even more "Oh? So you are a relative nation? I thought you looked something like an Angle."

"I guess you could say that, anyhow we had a revolution and got our independence and-"

"What?" Saber said suddenly cutting him off.

"Hm? Oh, we had a revolution and-"

"A revolution?A rebellion? You were rebels?" Saber asked again cutting Will off as she processed the new information.

"Yeah, like I said we had our revolution, the King at the time wasn't exactly doing us much good, and so we went and broke away-"

"Now hold just a moment!" Saber barked out her eyes narrowing. "I suppose it is not to objectionable to rebel if your land's are being invaded by another kingdom, but it is the duty of the people to serve their Liege through good and bad. This King you say, did he take the throne unjustly? Or was he a foreigner?"

"King George? No he was English, and I think he was the real deal as far as Kings went. But that's not really the issue, he was abusing his powers over the people so we ditched him."

Saber relaxed a little, while she didn't think that rebellion was right under any circumstances, at the very least the King they had separated from had been a tyrant, she did not think that that she could have cultivated much respect for the country her Master was describing otherwise.

"Very well." Saber said holding her head of to the side in a mildly distasteful expression. "I suppose that that is in the past now, though I must say it doesn't do a nation much credit to born from such means." She took another spoonful of soup and gestured for him to go on. When he did not she looked at him again.

Her Master as giving her a half disbelieving half angry look that said plainly that he had taken offense from her statements.

"Sorry." she said slowly, after a little in a only slightly apologetic voice. "I did not mean to offend... please continue, I am sure that your country has done wonderful things since then... Tell me who was the King you put up afterwords? Was he of the royal line or only a Knight?"

Saber had meant it to assuage her Master wounded national pride, after all such things were long past and out of his control, it wouldn't do to alienate her Master over something he couldn't change, however distasteful it might be.

Will however only looked more offended at her last query. "The King that we put up...? No! We didn't put up another King. We installed a democracy. The very first one for your information." He said indignantly.

"What do you mean you didn't have a King?" Saber said her voice dripping with confusion and disbelief. "What in S'blood is a democracy?"

Saber suddenly froze. She did know what a democracy was she suddenly realized. Although when she had been summoned this time there had been no sudden rush of support information on the workings of the modern world as three had been the other two times, she still recalled from the first two wars the info the Grail had bestowed her with so that she could better adjust to society. One of those things that had come was the basics of a governmental system that was currently dominating much of the world. And that seemed to fly in the face of everything that was right and good.

If she recalled correctly it involved...

Saber leapt up out of her seat sending her bowl of soup clattering to the ground spilling its contents onto the ground.

"Will..." she said slowly, her face dark,her body shaking with building fury as she called her Master by his name.

"Are you telling me... that this America of yours... was the founder of the system... that overthrew the **God given Right Of KINGS!**"

Will flinched backwards from her as her voice went from a near whisper to a deafening shout in the space of a split second.

Saber stood there, her eyes blazing with anger as she unleashed the full depths of her killing intent directly into the air around her.

People were staring at her from from the far side of the street, while many of those nearer to them were backing away as fast as possible.

Meanwhile her Master looked almost ready to wet his pants.

"Ye-yeash Saber t-take it easy!"

"You are telling me that it was this America that conceived the system that despoiled the Royal flower of Monarchy!"

"I-its not like that!" Will said defensively. "In Amer-"

"Enough!" Saber shouted "Do not speak the name of your country to me again! Such a nation that destroyed the divinely appointed boundary between Nobles and commoners should not be mentioned in my presence!"

"Alright! Okay! Fine, I wont talk about Am- eh- my country." Will said, waving his hands in-front of him and stumbling over his own words as he tried to placate her wrath.

Saber however was not finished. "How can a nation function without a King? That would be like a man without a head! Who leads your people in battle? Who makes your Laws or decides when to tax the people?"

"Well... the people do." Will said starting to regain his nerve. "It works quite well actually."

Saber narrowed her eyebrows even more. Did he even realize what he was saying? In some ways he was being even more of an idiot than Shirou had ever been.

"We get to make the laws by voting, that way the people can decide what they want instead of having just one aristocrat decide." Will said looking like he was trying to explain something simple to an angry toddler who might explode at any moment.

"That way... you know, in case the leader is a complete schmuck, the people can vote him out and replace him with a better Leader."

"That is preposterous." Saber said firmly, trying to put some sense into her Master.

She supposed that in a way he could be forgiven. After all if he had been raised that way then he couldn't be expected to understand how a real government should be run.

"If the people could decide such things they would remove or set up a lord's reign just depending on whether or not he was poplar. The kingdom would soon revolve around what the people wanted rather than what was best for it. It would become the plaything of petty charlatans masquerading as kings rather than the vessel of true Royalty that it was meant to be. The rule of the mob would soon drive the nation to ruin."

Will's eye was twitching as he watched her make her speech.

"Only a King" Saber said proudly. "born of proper blood, with the blessing of God truly lead a nation in the right way."

It didn't have quite the effect that she was looking for. Her Master appeared to be cringing at her words like she had said something offensive.

"What if the King sucks?"

Saber flushed red sightly at the crudely put but simple question. The conversation was going places she wasn't comfortable with. Her own shortcomings as King and a certain speech that the Rider Servant Iskander had given to her in the fourth War came briefly to mind.

"In that case." Saber said, slowly. "It is the place of the people to bear with the King for as long as they are able. Even if he is wicked, he is still the rightful lord of his people. It is the duty of other righteous Kings and Knights to rescue the people from their tyrannous lord though conquest."

Will looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood openly gaping at her like he was hearing a madman rave at the moon.

"You know what Saber?" Will said throwing his hands up in the air as if in surrender. "Okay. You're right. You're right. I am sorry I ever argued with you. I wont mention my country again and I'll just go with whatever you say."

"Eh? What?" Saber said surprised at her Masters sudden complacency, she hadn't expected him to back off so easily.

"I said I've changed by mind, I agree with you 100%." Will said, his voice lacking a certain quality of sincerity. "So, you ready to head out?"

Saber gave Will a long hard look gauging his expression. Apparently her Master preferred to dodge confrontations.

She nodded but gave the soup shop another look.

"We will speak no more of this, in any case I'll have another bowl before I go."

Will made an annoyed tisking sound thought the side of his mouth but didn't stop her as she walked up to the line outside the soup shop again.

Saber stood in line watching the person in front of her when she suddenly felt a strangers eyes on her. Turning her head sideways she found her self looking ,to her surprise, at a young girl who was staring wide eyed back at her like she had seen something astonishing.

The girl looked about 13 or so with a pretty face and very pail blond hair done into two long thin ponytails that hung out behind her. She was dressed in a simple outfit that was quite like Sabers own, with a white blouse and a long blue skirt joined by a small bluish middle piece that resembled a corset.

The girl kept staring straight at her.

Saber frowned slightly to herself, all the other people who had been given cause for alarm by her argument with her Master had long sense moved on.

Seeing Saber returning her gaze the girl stiffened even more and appeared to shudder slightly before blinking twice as if to confirm her existence and then taking a few reluctant steps forward towards her.

Taking a quick look at her position in the line and seeing that she was still very near the back, Saber left her spot and walked directly over to the strange staring girl who seemed to be unable to decide between being terrified of her or being enamored.

The girl moved her mouth slightly and Saber could make out her quiet voice breathing softly: "Olivie?"

"Girl? Are you mistaking me for somebody else?" Saber called out as she moved towards her.

At the sound of her voice the girl gave another small shake and suddenly turned and fled, running away around the corner and out of sight leaving Saber looking after her.

"What was that about?" came Wills voice from behind her. He had obviously noticed the girls odd mannerisms as well and come to investigate.

"I don't know." She said "She called me Olivie... I do not recognize the name. We should stay alert Master, Human familiars are not impossible, and the Casters are cunning. We must be vigilant against possible spies."

Will nodded. "We had better go, get your soup and lets leave."

Saber nodded and moved back into the line, where she was graciously given back her old position before she had walked out.

Moving up and into the shop Saber gave the menu another look. The Mulligatawny had been a masterpiece, but maybe it was time to try some of this artists other dishes.

When it was her turn again at last Saber walked forward to the counter "One Large Clam Bisque please." She said before making to move to the extreme left.

"What do you think you are doing here girl?" The harsh voice of the shopkeeper run out.

"Hmm?" She looked up in confusion at him. The shopkeeper was looking down at her in disgust.

"You think that I will serve you my soup? After what you did outside my shop?" He said, a vein on his forehead nearly popping out. "I saw you throw my soup onto the ground. Nobody throws my soup away in front of my own shop and gets more afterword's!"

Saber cursed herself silently as she recalled spilling her bowl onto the ground when she had been arguing with Master master only moments ago. It had been an innocent accident but she could see clearly now how the Shopkeeper had taken the perceived insult to his food. But that meant- that meant no more soup!

"I do not make my soup to be split on the ground by anybody! Come back in one week!"

"Please Sir, that was a accident." She said as sincerely as she could, her voice bordering on pleading. "I meant no -"

"**NO SOUP FOR YOU!" **He cried in a long rehearsed baritone. "**NEXT!**"

Saber stormed out of the shop with her hands clenched together, and her face pink. No more soup for a week? This couldn't be happening!

"What happened?" Will asked as she walked towards him.

"Nothing Master." she replied tightly reigning in her reeling emotions. Now was not the time for sulking over lost food she reasoned. If they were ever going to find the grail they needed to start now.

"Lets go, we have dallied here long enough, its time to find that thinking machine that you attach so much importance to."

"Alright." Will said sounding happy. Together they left the small storefront walking side by side, Saber pressing through the crowd.

They had delayed to long at the shop, she reflected. If they wanted to stay ahead in the Crusade they had to act quickly. She had tried to get Will to contact Rin for help several times now but her Master had refused saying that they weren't desperate yet. They had a Grail to find, a City full of hostile Mages to work around not to mention there own supposed companions who would be only to happy to fight her to the death or worse. And then there was Gilgamesh. Ever since he had visited her Master the other day she had been especaly woried about him. What was he planing? How had he retained his memory's? He obviously had not given on attempting to woo her one would woo a timid town maiden.

All in all there were vastly more critical things to worry about that her ban from some soup shop. Vastly more critical things. Vastly. Vastly more critical things. Much more important things. She shouldn't even be thinking about it. Especially considering how there were vastly more important things to be thinki- NO! What was she going to eat for a week? I was unjust! It was unfair! There was no way this could be happening! Not Fate, not the Root of the World, not the Grail and certainly not the ban of some shopkeeper would prevent her from tasting that dish again!

Saber fumed as they walked down the street. This crusade kept getting more and more complicated.

The two made searched the city all that day, but in the end found only straws to grasp at.

*Scene *

Night had fallen on Mid Childa bringing with it a sence of darkness that not even the millions of light of the capital could lift. Not that night. The City was no longer so unaware, it knew that there were dark things going on. And it felt that they came out at night. It was for the most part an accurate feeling.

From underneath a house a presence rose, seeping into the air like an infernal gas the astralized spirit of Assassin flowed out to do his dark Masters bidding. Sensed by none the most dishonorable Servant turned and speed away like a wind from a dark tunnel.

Flying along the ground Assassin coordinated himself to the city streets and began to work his way to his destination, leaving the lair that his Master had established behind.

Leaving the main street behind he moved into the parking lot of one of the many large skyscrapers. It was well maintained and doted with islands of trees and bushes showing attention to aesthetics that bespoke great pride or wealth.

The Old Man of the Mountain flowed through the shadows that the many streetlamps did not illuminate and then drifted into the branched of one of the small trees. Wrapping his shapelessness around the boughs of the tree he peered out in between the leafs. The Building was tall and wide, a silvery tower of steel that rose into the night sky. It was only marginally taller than the others around it but the large parking lot that surrounded it gave the building a solitary and majestic feeling.

It was a feeling that impressed itself deeply upon Assassin. Never in his life had he ever conceived buildings this tall. They were gigantic, like mountains in the desert. He still pondered why they did not come crashing down in ruin. It was a feeling that was especially jarring to him, he rarely wondered at anything at his age.

Looking at the base of the silver monolith that rose before him Assassin read the large metallic letters posted above the buildings entrance that spelled out "Blue Mesa Magic Science Research Facility".

Confirming the building as his destination Assassin dropped from the tree and flew towards the base of the building.

Moving across the lot he didn't even bother with the entrance instead seeping straight through the side of the building, the insubstantiality of complete astralization making things like mundain wall's no obstacle.

He came out into a blue tiled hallway that contained nothing of interest, moving through a few more walls he found the lobby and located a simple map of the building in a case on the wall.

The two security guards at the front desk talked away oblivious to the being that had infiltrated the building on their watch.

Comparing the map to the information that he had memorized, Assassin floated up through the ceiling and on up through the various floors not stopping till he had reached the 11th. Then flying like a wind he swept through the hall's and around two uniformed men who looked like a patrol of some kind. Going from door to door he at last stopped in front of the one marked R37 and flowed through.

Assassin found himself in a large room full of strange looking metal boxes that hummed just on the edge of hearing and had tiny colored lights on various parts. Making his way among them he came at last to his goal. A man in a white coat was seated at a metal desk looking up at luminous blue thing that was floating at his face level. Next to him leaning against one of the boxes was another man dressed the same, they were talking quietly to each other and occasionally pointing to the large blue... screen as his source had called it.

Observing them for a little, Assassin decided that he didn't care for having to operate the alien machinery by himself. Matirializing leisurely behind them he put a knife into the back of the leaning mans head with a flick of his wrist and then grabbed the man at the desk from behind clapping his hand over his mouth.

The man let out a muffled "MMMM!" and tried to jolt forward as his partner fell to the ground with a thud. After a very brief struggle Assassin slammed the mans head into his desk just hard enough to

to make him stop trying to stand up.

"Sit still" He rasped into the mans ear. The man froze at the sound of his deep voice.

Assassin slowly turned the man's head to the side so that he could see his companion sprawled dead on the floor, a knife protruding from the back of his head. He felt the man tense at the sight and quicken his breathing.

Satisfied that his captive was sufficiently cowed, Assassin yanked the mans head back to the screen. "Now do you understand? Find what I tell you or you'll join that man on the floor."

The man started trembling violently. Assassin gave out a "ki' of impatience and started tightening his grip slowly beginning to crush the mans jaw. His victim panicked and started tearing desperately at Assassins hand while trying to elbow him in the ribs, a feet that would not have worked even if his elbow wasn't blocked by the high back of his chair. Not one to take resistance lightly, Assassin slammed the mans head into the table harder this time, breaking his nose.

Pulling the now convulsing man back up Assassin waited for him to collect himself a little. When the man was finally relatively still again Assassin spoke in his ear "Now boy, I want you to find me a few things..."

*Scene *

In a circular room full of monitors a guard sat at his small desk chewing his bubble gum thoughtfully and reading a novel. It was a fun little action flick about Mid getting invaded by big green aliens and weird soldiers in gas masks. It was quite well put together considering its far fetched subject matter.

Putting his book down momentarily and stretching in his chair he gave his surroundings a brief glance. Although his post was a boring one he was a professional man and actually watching the cameras was the whole point of being there after all so for 2 years he had faithfully kept it up. And so it happened that when he gave the monitors his customary run though that night there was something to see.

10 seconds later every guard in the building froze as telicams appeared out of thin air next to their heads rimed with red to signify emergency.

"Intruder alert! All security teams mobilize and head to apprehend armed intruder on the 11th floor room 37! Suspect is dressed in black and is using lethal force! Repeat suspect is armed and using lethal force!"

*Scene *

Assassin looked on impatiently as the strange machine acquired the intelligence that he sought. Along with the location of the Grail he had also been tasked with recovering any information that would be useful. Considering how little either he or his Master knew of the place that they were infiltrating it was quite a bit of information that he had gone after even with just the essentials. However he was not worried, no one had seen him come in and the door to the room was locked. He had plenty of time.

Still standing behind the trembeling man in the white cloak Assassin watched as the blue screen displayed various small pictures moving about that apparently symbolized that it was working.

"How long till it is done?" He asked, his deep voice breaking the silence and causing the man to start.

"Ah... when the blue bar fills it will be transferred to the chip... then you will let me go right?" the man asked nervously licking his lip a little.

Assassin didn't answer.

The man looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't work up the courage to do it. He kept glancing down at his dead companion.

Watching the floating blue screen (A computer telicam as he would later learn) Assassin was suddenly aware of the sound of many feet running down the hall towards the room. He could hear men coming down the hall, probably guards from the way they were moving, cautiously yet quickly like men on a hunt.

Assassin looked up at the screen again, the bar was only two thirds full and he wasn't about to leave empty handed.

Casualy stabbing his captive through the eye, Assassin turned and looked for a place to hide. The room was full of the boxlike machines, some of them quite tall that could serve as cover. Besides this however the room was much to well lit for his tastes, the ceiling being set with rows of lights. Throwing his knives upwards he smashed out all of them except the one closest to the center of the room. The shadows in the room grew outwards as he did it till they shrouded most of the chamber.

Much better.

He ducked behind one of the desks and waited, his good hand full of knives while his bandaged limb hung limply brushing the floor.

A few moments later the door was kicked in and men in blue robes burst into the room.

"This is security! Come out with your hands up!" one of the guard yelled.

Assassin peered out from behind his cover. There were only eight of them but he knew more would be coming, if he had to guess reinforcements would arrive in about a minute. Plenty of time.

"Hold on he's smashed the lights, find him!" one of them yelled. Instead of splinting up and fanning out to find him as he had expected, one of the guards begun to gather energy of some kind to himself.

Peering out from behind his cover, Assassin watched as one of the men barked out "Search!" and little luminous green globes flew out of his staff.

Ducking back behind his cover Assassin quickly employed Presence Concealment cutting his very presence off from the minds of the searchers as the tiny little glowing orbs shot out in different directions around the room. A few lingered near him as the passed over but they didn't stay long.

"He's not here Sir." the one who had cast the spell said once the small globes had returned to him.

"Right, turn that computer off and search the rest of the rooms."

Assassin resigned himself to killing them, it wouldn't do to have them turn the machine off and make him loose what he came for. Standing up softly he launched one of his dark knives at each mans head, throwing eight in less than half a second.

To his surprise and dismay rather than falling dead, the guards simply reeled backwards as his knives were deflected inches away from their targets.

There was a storm of expletives and confused yells as the Security team looked around wildly for what had struck their barrier jackets.

"He's here!" Shouted one of the guard's who seemed to be in charge. "Find him and take him down!"

Assassin looked on pondering the meaning of his deflected daggers as the men formed into a circle facing outwards. They were now using their staffs to conjure light that nearly lit up the whole room. Assassin let out a quiet "Keh!" That would make things slightly more difficult for him. More were coming and he needed to kill these quickly so he could get what he came for and leave. But if he couldn't kill with his daggers...

No, he decided, they would not be reacting so if they were impervious. He had never heard of rank and file Maguses having something as powerful as a deflection spell that could repel his daggers but he supposed that it wasn't impossible, especially in a place as strange as this. In that case...

Like a huge black spider the Old man of the Mountain crawled along the floor to a new position as the security team began to split up to search for him. Moving in groups of two the men were moving carefully trying to find their mystery assailant while two stood by the entrance of the room watching their partners carefully.

Assassin was impressed despite himself, he had infiltrated countless strongholds and enemy camps in his life but he rarely saw such tactics actually observed when guards were nervous. Pity.

Scuttling along along through the shadows low to the ground he quickly made his way towards the pair by the door while the other three guards fanned out farther into the room behind him.

When he was almost upon the two men he suddenly jumped up. Hitting the ceiling sideways, he filled his hand with knives and in a split second shot three of them at the guard on the left perfectly aiming each of them at a separate vital spot.

Whatever barrier protected the guard was not enough to save him. Assassin watched as his knives sunk into his target's vitals sending him to the ground instantly.

Lunging down from the ceiling he landed in front of the other man and stabbed him through the eye with all his strength. His knife went through the invisible shield and buried itself up to the hilt. The Magus fell like a doll with its stings cut. Quickly pulling his weapon out he sprang away into corner before the other guards had completely turned around.

The only thing they saw was a flustering black blur disappearing into the shadows.

"There!" One of the guards shouted shooting a bolt of energy into the shadows.

To Assassins annoyance the bolt lit up the area that he was in making him jump away further to prevent the possibility of detection. He threw a hail of knives at the man as he did so and heard a satisfying gurgle as he changed positions.

The guards were terrified now, shouting they began to fire bolts into the shadows randomly, some coming close to where Assassin crouched.

This was more like it he thought with satisfaction. Panic was always so much easier to work with and once it had set in the battle was his, that was always the way it went.

He leaped from the dark corner of the room and sprung over the head of one of the guard pairs stabbing one twice in the back of the neck as he did so and then disappearing into the shadows again. Even with the lights on the tips of their staffs the room was only partially illuminated and Assassin took full advantage of that as he snaked through the room striking here and there before the Mauguses could respond.

They reacted as he expected. Some were screaming now as they watched there partners picked off one by one by something they could only vaguely see as a black fluttering mass. Twice in the course of the brief fight one of the Maguses had tried to illuminate the room with a powerful light conjured from their staffs. They were rewarded both times almost instantly with a barrage of knives to the vital areas, that inevitably managed to penetrate their strange shields in one area or another.

The room grew darker and darker as one by one the Mages lights were snuffed out out.

Assassin gave another growl of annoyance. This was taking far longer than it should have. By all rights he should have ended it a few second after they came in the door. Instead he had power his way through the strange barriers that every single one of the guards seemed to have. It was irritating and wasteful. He had expended ten times the number of knives that he should have and was now resorting to hand to hand and backstabbing to conserve ammunition.

Bending down by the body of a fallen guard he pulled out the three knives imbedded in his body. Looking up he saw that only three guards were left and they were moving towards the exit now, while pointing their staffs around desperately.

Assassin lunged forward across the floor and grabbed the guard farthest from the door by the ankle pulling the screaming man back into the shadows. Then grabbing the wildly struggling guard by the throat he began to strangle the man.

Holding the silently thrashing guard to the floor Assassin gave a brief glance up. The two remaining guards had fled leaving the room empty and barely lit by a the single surviving light he had left unbroken.

Finishing of the man and devouring his mana, Assassin looked over at the devise that he had came for. The bar on the screen was full signifying completion.

Standing up he walked over to it and pulled the small blue triangular chip out of the slot it rested in. _Mission success_ he used to himself. He could feel more guards coming there were about fifteen of them in the hall now but they were hesitating to enter the room.

He would have smiled if he could, sadly however considering the state of his face... it was a action he had long been deprived of. He had never used it much as it was but still he found the loss of the ability... regrettable.

Judging from the way they were still not coming through the door he concluded that the Guards now were waiting for even more reinforcements no doubt held of by the testimony of the two survivors. Fear was such a wonderful asset, the way it spread and made his tasks ever easier.

Going through the room he quickly and dutifully began to gather all of his spent knives from the floor and the body's of the dead Guards. It was time consuming to make more of the small blades that he favored and he had only begun using them. Dark had to be created from his own Mana and memory's and thus was not something to waist.

About a minute later as he picked up the the last of his knives he sensed the men on the other side of the door close in. They were ready to dare the room again and this time there were about twenty five of them. He could probably have taken them as well but he had what he came for. Astraizing he faded away and flew though the wall like a ghost soon leaving the steel tower far behind him, leaving the frantic security team's to search the building in vain long into the night.

*Scene *

Sub chapter: To Repay a Thief

(Three weeks earlier, somewhere in Germany)

In a small town in the mountains starless night had fallen, the heavens blotted out by obscuring clouds. It was a quiet, out of the way place surrounded by lightly wooded country on all sides that gave it a perpetual feeling of quaintness. Were it not for the towns distinctly shabby condition it could have almost been a scenic retreat for the rich. It was the kind of place where the inhabitants kept to themselves for the most part, the sort that was not often effected by the comings and goings of the outside world and cared little for the same.

Through this town two cloaked and hooded figures walked side by side swaddled from head to toe in dark cloth. They were kept from the notice of the sleeping residence by the dark of night that gathered all around them. Avoiding the main road the two made their way though the town quietly, moving forward steadily but slowly with solemn purpose in their gait. They walked on not stopping until they had reached the dark outskirts of the town where a single well kept looking house stood, all alone. In the night however, with the moon shining of its tall frame in white paint it bore a more distinct resemblance to a tomb. The figures turned to each other and whispered back and forth for a while till one of them nodded and gestured around the side of the house. Its partner tuned and with a speed that would have made any onlooker gasp, suddenly sped around and into the side yard out of sight.

Klaus Ingerels von Einzbern flung himself bolt upright in bed, wide awake in an instant as the alarms built into his Bounded Field went of in his head like a series of small explosions. After a split second pause he threw the blankets of of himself, jumped out of bed and pulled a long crooked black knife out from under his mattress. Bolting for the door of his room and throwing himself into the hallway he started sprinting towards the back door. If his Bounded field had worked properly then whoever was intruding upon his holdup in the middle of the night would be getting a very nasty surprise right about now. Considering who it most likely was however it was quite possible that his bounded field had been bypassed and that-

A few feet from the back door of his house the window next to him exploded inward and a dark shape flung itself into the room.

Klaus lunged at it on a reflex, thrusting his knife at the figure that had apparently just tried to tackle him through the window.

The figure sprang to its feet with notable dexterity and drew a much longer blade from out of its cloak deflecting Klaus's strike in a flash of steel. His hand jarred and stung horribly but he managed to keep his grip on the blade that was his only weapon.

Not daring to try and mach his assailant blade to blade, Klaus aimed a kick at the still off balance figures stomach. He was rewarded with a sharp "Oohff!" from his target who was knocked back to the ground into siting position. His brief flash of triumph was cut off instantly however when something suddenly held his foot fast preventing him from drawing it back. Kluas looked down in horror as he saw that his partly downed opponent had grabbed him by the ankle with its free hand.

A short twisting motion later and Klaus was screaming and falling backwards onto the floor as incapacitating pain shot up his leg. Clutching his ankle and moaning Klaus could only lay there helplessly as the robed figure got up slowly and stood over to him with its sword drawn.

The figure looked down on him silently for a little before pulling back its hood, reveling the thin face of a man with sharp red eyes. His skin was nearly snow white and his hair was of the same color, long and straight it spilled down over his back. A homunculus.

Created by Magi skilled in the art of Alchemy, homunculus were artificial beings created to serve their masters in a specific capacity for as long as they lived. Being almost literally giant walking masses of Magical Circuits given flesh, homunculus were capable of channeling amounts of Prana that put all but the most powerful Magi to shame, and they could do it almost upon the moment of birth. That was, if they were properly made, a immensely complicated and tedious task. Depending on the skill and effort that their creators put into them they ranged in power from weaker than humans to magical beings capable of fighting toe to toe with a Dead Apostle. When it came to the Einzberns, there were none better in the art. It was one of their most prized skills, the creation of thralls stronger than most Mages could ever hope to become, as an Einzbern himself Klaus had spent most of his life delving into the art.

And now he was going to be killed by one of them.

Klause swore under his breath and tried to stand up. As soon as he put pressure on it the pain in his ankle became overwhelming, causing him to give another yelp and sending hm back to the floor. The homunculus watched his efforts with a calm neutral expression that said plainly that there was nothing he could do. It infuriated him.

"Master, I have him." the pale creature called out softly down the hall in a voice like an owl. While it was looking away Klause gave a glance over to the corner of the room where he estimated he had dropped his knife when he fell. There it was in the corner a few steps away, If only he could reach it...

"Very good Iffeal" Came another voice from down the hall, this one deeper and much more normal sounding, though still slightly on the high pitched end of the spectrum.

Klaus put both hands on the ground and slowly scooted himself closer to the knife in the corner. As he winced in pain at the slight movement that upset his ankle he could hear footsteps coming slowly, almost lazily down the hall.

Shifting as subtly as he could so that the homunculus would not notice and wonder what he was up to, Klaus scooted over so that the knife was directly behind him and his body blocked it from obvious view.

The man who stepped into the room was dressed the same as his henchman, in a long dark cloak that fell down to his ankles. His hood had also been puled back reveling his face. Like his servant the man was obviously a homunculus, skin hair and eye color being identical shades of white and red. Unlike his minion however he wore his hair short at ear length combed in a professional looking way. Although angular, his face had a softness about it that could have made him look almost cherubic were it not for his expression which was high, impertinent and cruel looking. Moreover the man was looking at him with a mixture of pleasure and disgust that clashed quite horribly with each other and gave him a twisted look. Upon his cheek he bore a strange scar in the shape of a crooked letter L that marred his otherwise sculpted looking features.

Klaus went slightly pale "Leberecht!" he yelled, a mixture of pain fear and fury pouring out of his mouth. "What do you want! Get out of my house! How **dare** you do this to me! I am a direct blood descendant of the one who made you! Are you betraying the Einzbern family?"

Leberecht Illya von Einsbern looked down on his pure human relative with a poisonous glare "Betraying the Einzbern family?" He said in a sardonic voice, no longer smiling as he had been before. "That is very funny coming from you. A thief and a **liar**."

Leberecht walked over and stood in front of him with his servant looking down at him like one would look at a piece of trash. "As far as betraying the Einzbern family, I am here with the blessing of Grandfather himself to dispose of your miserable existence before you pollute the entire family."

Klaus looked up at Leberecht with a equally disgusted look and then shook his head. "Pollute the entire...pollute the entire family?" he yelled up at the pale man standing over him. "What part of what I did was against the interests of our family? I created a excellent homunculus! I reproduced grandfathers greatest work in the last 60 years almost flawlessly!"

Leberecht flinched at that and his face twisted into a scowl. "I disagree. And more importantly Grandfather disagrees." he said his voice still calm despite the anger written plainly on his face.

Klaus snorted, a little bit of snot dripping from his nose as he did so. "The old man will change his mind when she brings the Holy Grail back."

Leberecht gave a laugh "That miserable little clay child's toy that you call a homunculus wont bring back the Grail. Grandfather got a hold of your workshop."

Klaus gave a sudden high pinched "eep!" that recalled a startled mouse almost perfectly.

"We saw what you did there and to tell the truth he is not very happy with what you did to that girls remains. Or at least what we guess you did with her remains. She was before my time but from what I hear Grandfather was quite fond of that girl."

Klaus shook his head "Then he should appreciate what I did, if it went for me then all that material would still be siting in the grou- AH!"

Klaus yelped as Leberecht gave him a sharp kick in the face.

"As I said before" He went on as Klaus rubbed his eye tenderly "that was before my time and although I find what you did distasteful and more that a little disturbing that is not why I am here."

Klaus gave his eye one last rub and looked up at Leberecht. As slowly as he could he put both hands on the floor and scooted himself back an inch or so towards the knife.

"I am here because you took your little hack doll and used her to steal** my PLACE!**" The tall homunculus said his voice rising to a scream of fury. Bending down swiftly Leberecht seized Klaus by the throat and pulled him up into crouching position and started yelling into his face.

"Did you really think that pathetic meat puppet that you made with your **filthy hands** could harness the power of Hercules? Did you really think that I would allow myself to be ousted from my rightful Servant, my **Birthright**, by a half baked copy of somebody else's work?"

Leberechts face which had been exploding in anger began to relax though he maintained a stranglehold on Klaus's throat.

"That girl you made will not be able to maintain that Servant for long, she will be dead in a month, all you have accomplished is to try and deprive me of my place in the War."

"I-it d-doesn't mater" Klaus choked out struggling to breath "In a week she will have recovered the Grail and returned it before anyone can stop her... Then she will die, and cease to be a possible threat."

Leberecht narrowed his eyes and then let Klaus go. He fell back onto the floor coughing and gasping for breath. Leberecht didn't notice him take the opportunity to slide back a few more inches towards the knife.

"You disgust me, Klaus. You disappoint me as well. Did you know that at one point when I was new I would sometimes stay up all night wondering how I could possibly beat someone like you and whether or not you would have me erased in my sleep. You use to terrify me."

Leberecht shook his head and smiled once more. "I never imagined that all it would take to beat you would be Iffeal and a few tricky moments of getting past your Bounded Field after I tracked you down."

Klaus looked up at the homunculus wordlessly. Behind his back he eased his hand back and felt the hilt of his weapon.

"I guess that in the end you were only a miserable little plotter who was so inept that you had to resort to digging up graves to make anything capable of functioning." Leberecht paused and looked down at him with a smirk of self satisfaction.

"Before I kill you I want you to know that it doesn't mater that you took my rightful spot in the new Grail War, I will be chosen anyway. I will summon a Servant who will serve me until that puppet dies or is killed and then I will take Beserker as my own, just like it was meant to be. And who knows, maybe after I get the Grail I'll come back here, dig your body up, boil it down and make a disposable copy of you out of it."

Leberecht straightened himself up and started to turn away. It was at that exact moment that Klaus tightened his grip on the hilt of his knife. Gritting his teeth he lunged as hard as he could at the homunculus above him, knife flashing out towards his leg.

"Master!"

There was a gleam of light and a swishing sound, in front of him his target was suddenly shoved to the side as a horrible shock hit him in the chest.

Klause gasped in pain and looked down. Protruding from his chest was the long steel blade of a sword. His eyes followed it up until they found its hilt. Leberecht's servant Iffeal had shoved his master out of the way and then run him thought the heart as he lept forward.

The dagger in his hand, an enchanted blade meant to be a bane to homunculus, a weapon that he had carried almost all his life in case of just such an occasion, fell out of his hand and clattered to the floor. In the end it had been useless. All of it. _How rottenly unfair_, he thought as he fell backwards. It was the last thought that ever went though his head.

.

Leberecht Illya von Einzbern watched his enemy fall to the floor with a slightly alarmed expression. How had he missed that? Had he been so busy gloating that he discounted the possibility of a hidden weapon? The idea made a uncomfortable lump form in his throat.

"Check him" he hissed to his thrall. Iffeal leaned over Klaus's body cautiously and checked his pulse.

"He is dead master." he said after a little. "He will trouble you no more."

Leberecht let out a sigh of satisfaction and gave a weak smile, his shoulders relaxing. All his life the man on the floor had menaced his every step and now years of trying to double guess every move his half Uncle made were over. He let out a snort of laughter. Then another and another till he was having an almost uncontrollable giggling fit.

Iffeal watched him with something like alarm as he kept laughing. He was surprised himself, he had never done anything like that before but the twisted sense of triumph mixed with relief overwhelmed him.

It took a little but after what seemed like a while he regained his composure.

"Master?" came Iffeales unnaturally soft voice.

"Yes, Iffeal?"

"May I be so bold as to ask what you intend to do now?" His servant ventured.

"Exactly what I said I would do. We're going to be taking a little trip to Japan."

*Scene *

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tough crowd. :(

So yeah, its been a very long time hasn't it. For that I apologize, I am doing what I can to make this fic tick. I would appreciate it if your reviews didn't focus to much on how long it has been since the last update as there is not much I can do about that.

The novel the guard was reading? Base Delta Zero I salute you.

I realized that in much of the story I would have the perspective change between characters very frequently, sometimes in between paragraphs. Looking back on it I think that this was a mistake. From now on I will try to keep the perspective from one person thought the enter scene. If you liked the rapid perspective changes then tell me and I will consider continuing. If you didn't like them but didn't say anything then shame on you for not calling me out on it.

Aperently a lot of my reader have never read the Vidvid manga so I felt compelled to explain Einhart's back story a little. If you aren't satisfied with the exposition then you had best go and read it as Einheart plays a part in this story. You can get it online easy enough.

Getting a little exited about you food Saber?

I know that Saber would have never pulled anything like what she did on Will on Kiritsugu. However you must understand that this was because Kiritsugu was a badass who knew what he was doing and would never have tolerated such insubordination. Will is not so she isn't as willing to let him get away with things like 3rd rate food every day.

I was struck suddenly with an odd thought, this has little to do with the story at hand, but I think I just noticed that all the Servats are very specifically color coded, with the only repetitive colore being light blue, shared by Caster and (Fake) Assassin as well as black shared by Besserker and (True Assassin).

Saber= the silver servant (Notable as she is one of the strongest and she gets a "noble color")

Gilgamesh= the Golden Servant (Also notable as him being the strongest he gets the most noble color)

Beserker = Black (also notable as, as the most monstrous Servant he gets the most menacing color)


	9. Chapter 9 The Rat Witch and Snake

Ch 9 The Rat the Witch and the Snake.

In the sewers bellow the city of Crannagan lived many rats. Although pristine and well kept in many places the sewer system that sprawled underneath the capital of the TSAB was by no means immune to the decay and degeneration that all sewers inevitably harbored. In many many places the sewer lay dirty and dingy as any other and it was in those places that the rats lived and bred, cultivating filth and rearing their vermin spawn as best they could.

Now it is common knowledge among anyone who knows anything at all about them, that all rats posses a single unified racial goal that their entire race has been working towards since the dawn of time. The goal being to breed and infest every corner of every inch of everything until the scurrying hordes burst forth and overrun humanity beneath an ocean of crooked yellow jaws and pattering little pink rat feet.

Although they had come close to achieving this diabolical end on other worlds in the past, in Mid-Childa the rat uprising still had a very long way to go being at the present in the 'mildly annoying if you go into certain parts of the sewers' phase.

Never-the-less the rat population was present, and even thriving in some places of the lower reaches, surviving by their cunning and unparalleled knowledge of the deeper and darker places of the underground. It was through this community that Daichi's familiar rat Girb kept a surprisingly sharp watch on the goings on of the city at large and it was through this tiny under-town that he now crept, scuttling along a rusted pipe, his long tail waving around behind him as he moved among his fellow vermin.

It was a frustrating time for the small rodent, only a few months ago he and his Master had been discredited and nearly penniless, the laughing stock of the few people who were aware of their existence at all. Then through his hard work, a few strokes of genius and some luck they had discovered a artifact that had blown away the Scientific community with wonder. Through his efforts his master Daichi had become a celebrity almost overnight, instantly welcomed back into the scientific community with open arms and lauded for his brilliance and daring to take risks.

Gribs Master was currently spending much of his time attending dinners with prominent figures, giving speeches and milking as much fame and publicity from the discovery as he could possibly squeeze out.

Grib had done what he had dreamed of doing for years. He had given Daichi what he had always wanted more than anything, he had made Daichi famous, he had made his Master great. The day that Daichi had been interviewed about his success on his discovery had been one of Gribs sweetest moments that he could remember, the culmination of all his years of plotting and scheming and foul play that he had done to bring his Master to fame. He had done it.

And now Daichi Murano did not need Grib anymore.

As soon as he had achieved success Grib had been shuffled out of his Master schedule almost completely, his role in Daichis life reduced to giving him weekly checkups on the few projects of his that still held the corrupt archeologists interest. His Master never mentioned Grib in any of his speeches or story's. The wonderful idea to look into an old incident of an energy surge had all been Daichi's idea, he had "Overcome his fear and followed his heart into the unknown, and there found fabulous treasure." As his Master was fond of putting it at his many party's. Even his Mana allowance had been cut to a bare minimum, depriving him of his powers and making him little more than an intelligent talking rat.

In retrospect it was not surprising, Although he relied on him to do most of the work Daichi had never really enjoyed Gribs company only really giving him much attention when he was actively doing something for him. Grib had never wanted to share the spotlight with his master_... well, maybe a little, _The rat admitted to himself as he scurried along, moving around a particularly huge one of his brethren as he did so.

But to be practically thrown away as he had been was... almost unbearable.

It had used to be that whenever Grib said anything Daichi would listen, whenever he would tell his Master to trust him, he would do it. It had not been perfect but Grib liked to think that the two of them had been friends, at least to some degree. Now he wasn't even allowed into Daichi's room most of the time. When he could get to it.

It had been a nasty shock when he had finally realized what was happening, but after his initial paralysis at the revelation that he was no longer factored into his Masters world, he had set about trying to amend the situation as best he could. Grib was a cunning and industrious rat and he had pieced together almost instantly what he needed to do.

If he was only welcome by his Master when he was useful then it was time to prove his continued usefulness. He would show that he was still needed even when his Master was on top of the world.

Filled with industrious enthusiasm for his new goal Grib had set out determined to prove himself in any way possible. His master might be famous, but there were still obstacle's to overcome, there always were. And his Master's spotlight would not last forever, not once they realized that for all his speeches, Daichi was himself incapable of producing much.

The first thing to do would be to identify and learn as much as possible about his Master potential opponents. No one was opposing or even questioning Daichi now, but it was only a mater of time. Once the thrill of the discovery wore off there would inevitably be people who would start to look at his Master with a more critical eye, and Grib was determined to prepare for just such an event.

First he had sniffed out the most likely candidates for future opposition: the librarian who had discredited his Master in the first place. Yuuno Scrya.

Only a few months ago the Chief Librarian of the Infinite Library itself had picked his Master's old article apart with surgical precision (plus a healthy dose of contempt) showing the scientific community just what kind of game he and Daichi had been playing. Although that had been largely forgotten now, it showed that Yuuno Scrya was on to the two of them in any case and the most likely to remain skeptical of his Master. Considering his Influence, he could potentially wreak all if he decided to speak out. That simply would not do, and even discounting that it was a mater of professional pride for the rat to try and gain power over those who had influence or might be useful in the future. Not to mention the fact that his Master had already expressed personal dislike for the yellow haired Librarian.

Bottom line, Yuuno Scrya had been put under a very special type of investigation.

Grib had to admit once he did a little research, that he would be a very challenging target. For one, even setting aside that he was the Chief Librarian of the Infinite Library, his record was nearly flawless. The man had attained his Archeological position at a time when most people were still in grade school and had personally helped resolve several high priority incidents alongside none other than the Ace of Aces herself, the White Devil Nanoha in combination with Yuunos long history of competence, no, excellence in his job as Chief Librarian made his reputation a seemingly impenetrable wall to the devious Rat.

A daunting target indeed, but finding chinks in walls was something that rats excelled at. There was always something. Everyone had a weak point and it was Gribs master-craft to find them and bring them to bear, or in the rare case where none could be found, manipulate the truth until you made one for them.

That had been Gribs main focus of time and effort for the past few days. Deprived of his magical powers, he had been left with only two things, his not inconsiderable cunning and the fact that, unlike some familiars, he maintained the ability to communicate with is own species. It was ironic but for all the advantages that spell casting offered, the simple ability to speak with his non-sentient brethren gave him a wider and, in some ways, more reliable base of information than most investigators could ever dream of having. Close nit and willing to obey who they perceived as a particularly brilliant brother, the rat swarms of the Mid-Childan sewers formed Gribs personal army of willing spies, creeping, crawling and sniffing in places that no human expected or had the patience to examine.

True they could not go many places where humans went freely and but they made up for it in spades in their microscopically precise view of the small scale picture.

Combining the info from his brothers with lintel available to him though his secret computers, there was little that went on in Crannagan that he did not learn of sooner or later.

He even knew the whereabouts of several active criminal organizations. It took smarts to keep such a thing going in Crannagan and the few criminals who did so kept a extremely low profile but not even that was enough to protect them from Gribs network.

It had been very difficult, the Librarian spending much of his time in the TSAB headquarters where the Infinite Library lay bit not even that was completely free of rats, and therefore not completely free of Grib. He had no results yet, but it was still early in the hunt, and he had been only warming up to it, probing and sneaking around his unsuspecting target.

Had been that was, for his little project had been interrupted four days ago by a sudden and highly disturbing realization.

There was something very bad in the sewers with him.

It had started as disturbed hush that swept through the rat population, a fear that grew suddenly from seemingly nothing, the instincts of the rats forewarning them of coming calamity. Then almost immediately afterward the reports had started to come in.

An old man who reeked of death followed oftentimes by a strange and nebulous, but unmistakably malevolent presence that moved through the sewers as it pleased like a dark wind.

A huge eyed creature who appeared as a human but was somehow not had been seen on several occasions in the sewers, going to and fro on some unknown errand dressed in black robes and accompanied by a silent dark haired girl.

All these things had come to Grib in a tide of whispers from the lips of his secretive brothers. Rats did not lie, not to each other, at least when concerning outsiders.

It had been interesting if unnerving news for the familiar, and he had briefly connected the rumors with the incident that was taking place in the world above, determining to keep an eye on what was happening. Who knew, maybe he could use the criminals for his own ends in some way?

His passive speculation had ended when sudenly and unexpectedly _creatures_ had begun coming out of the woodwork.

It had started with the other rumors, reports of strange parasites in the water, huge worms that paralyzed rats with their touch and devoured them, pulling them under never to come back up. At first there had been only a few, but they had mysteriously multiplied, growing in numbers alarmingly over the course of a few days. In several places they had already driven the rats out altogether. As if that were not enough other things had begun appearing as well, impossible things, unspeakable fish like beasts crawling up from some dark recess of the sewer, strange horrors of slimy flesh, tentacled monstrosity's, towers of teeth and eyes. Those were only a few of the names that had been given to the sudden and unwelcome newcomers by the old inhabitants of the sewers. Their numbers grew daily, though where they resided remained a mystery.

And on top of it all some of the rats themselves had gone strange, disappearing and then coming back different. The changed ones, as they were being called by the rest of the rat community, no longer whispered to their brothers, keeping to themselves they undertook errands for an unknown Master and walked freely, unmolested among the ever hungry worms.

The rats had been caught completely off guard, up above the humans spoke in tones of astonishment over how crime had erupted in the the city in a mere five days, down below however the situation had gone from normal to what seemed like a siege in a mere four. His information network crumbling around him, Grib had buried himself in the heart of the rat colony to avoid the monsters that they now sudenly shared the underground with. It had taken a little but Grib had finally given up on his self appointed project and attempted to remedy the unlooked for stroke against his valuable resources.

While at first he had held out on thinking of a way to solve the problem himself, he had quickly come to the realization that if a sudden infestation of flesh eating paralytic worms and giant squid monsters in the sewers of the TSAB capital did not warrant alerting the authority's then nothing did.

Taking a right along the pipe cluster that he was walking along Grib headed away from the cluster of rat nests that made up the primary colony and took a turn upwards heading for one of the many hidden exits from the sewers. It was a long journey to the surface, and no longer a safe one either, but Grib knew the secret ways well enough to find his way without trouble. An hour later he emerged, crawling up quietly from a gutter grate and skittering along the sidewalk.

Without magic, travel had become much more difficult for the familiar, but he could still get around when need be. With his knowledge of the sewers correlation to the streets above, Grib had been able to navigate the river formed by underground storm drains in order to speed his journey though the vast city. As it was he had come out only a few miles from where he wanted to be.

Running off into the dark he set out for the towering skyscraper in the distance where Daichi currently resided.

Even with the journey cut short by his detour, it was a long trek to the base of the expensive hotel, taking more than a few hours, longer than he had expected. Grib pushed on though, and eventually found himself at the base of his desired building. Running along the wall, dipping and dodging out of the sight of the people he finally found what he was looking for. Vanishing through a chink in the side of the building he squeezed his way though into the small space between the wall and begun his journey up into the hotel.

It was a long, long, climb up to the room where he knew his Master resided. Squirming his way though dusty spaces that most would have thought impossible, he worked his way upwards slowly, changing walls as routs failed him, backtracking when he took a wrong turn, scaling the sides of ventilation ducts and even running out into the hallways twice when he had become unable to continue through the means of the wall.

It was risky in the extreme and exhausting for him, his small body unable to keep up the energy required to make the trip in one go. His heart pounding in his small chest he had been obliged to stop to rest for long periods of time and try and find water. It was a dangerous operation and in the end he had been forced to locate and scale a drinking fountain to operate in order to quench his raging thirst.

There was a time when he would simply have assumed human form and made the journey in a few minutes by the elevator! Now it was a journey fraught with danger, his Master's pathetic allowance of Mana so small that he could no longer even project his voice loud enough for people to hear him properly unless he was near their face.

It made being caught by a maid and killed before he could explain himself a very real danger.

He had been able to get his drink without being detected however and after taking a long rest in the wall he resumed his arduous journey.

The clime seemed to go on for hours without any sign an end, a constant struggle to overcome the next obstacle and make it to the next floor.

Climbing up, up, up, through a wall choked with dust he was almost to the top when he was suddenly aware of a very light rhythmic taping sound that was coming closer. Pausing and sniffing the air he smelled something metallic for a second before there was a small whirring nose and he suddenly found himself face to face in the gap of the wall with a strange looking machine.

It was only a little bigger than he was, a thin spidery looking silvery segmented bot with long metal legs and a simple red lens on the front that appeared to be studying him carefully. Underneath it hugging its thin body was a simple metal rod that began to extend towards him, giving off little crackles of electricity. For a moment he froze as recognition set in.

He had heard of these! Well-to-do establishments sometimes rented autonomous pest control robots. Small enough to fit in between the walls and go where their prey went the small silvery spiders were usually equipped with either a shock rod or a syringe of poison, fatal to small animals in either case. Of course a place like this would have them.

The rod began to crackle louder as it extended towards him. A snapping line of sizzling death.

Jumping back and taking off as fast as his little legs could carry him Grib ran for the ledge that he had just climbed up, discovering new reservoirs of strength that he had not known he had.

Never-the-less behind him the bot scuttled after him with a fluid speed that outmatched his own whirring softly as it did so.

It gained on him quickly and Grin heard a small *zap!* behind him as the rod beneath it jumped out at him hitting the wall instead.

Damn it! He was the familiar of famous scientist! Not a rat to be electrocuted to death in the wall and then disposed of like trash by some automated pest control product!

The extermination bot right behind him, his blood pounding in his ear's he desperately did the only thing he could think of. Reaching inside and feeling his Linker Core he gathered as much of his miniscule Mana allowance as he could and threw it at the thing behind him in as concentrated a bolt as he could muster.

There was a popping noise followed by a sudden outbreak of louder, chaotic taping noises, the sound of pursuit stopping.

Grib kept running for a little, only turning around to see what had happened when he was sure that the thing was a good three feet behind him.

His improvised magical bolt had cracked and burnt out the lens on its front, apparently blinding it. The silvery spider like thing was now tapping the walls around quickly with its forelegs.

Recovering his breath he watched it for a little trying to determine whether or not is was going to come after him again. It stood there tapping away for what seemed like a long time until it suddenly stopped, folded its legs into itself and lay there looking very much like a innocent silver tube coated in a thin layer of dust.

The hairs on the back of Grib's legs were singed from the encounter, and the Rat determined after a little thought to find a way around that did not involve stepping over the seemingly dormant thing. Taking a different turn he scurried off into the maze that was the space between the walls, he was almost there.

*Scene *

High in the upper stories of the hotel "The Parnassus", in one of the most roomy lodgings available, Daichi Murano was reclining in his armchair wearing a bath robe, a Magazine in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

"Modern Science and Magic Monthly" was a popular science article in Mid-Childa that kept tabs on quite a few subjects not excluding reports on Lost Logia. It had quite a large reader base among the laypeople. With the Currant climate of nearly frenzied excitement within the scientific community it had followed the case of his Red Moon Crystal with great detail and had interviewed him several times so far. He was looking at his fourth in the article now, admiring his own words on the page as he finished off his drink.

His happy little moment was interrupted by a sudden scratching at the door. Looking up he narrowed his eye's, he recognized the sound.

With a doleful sigh he put his magazine down, got up from his comfy chair and made his way slowly to the door in his bare feet, grumbling softly to himself as he did so. What did his familiar want at this time of night? He hadn't seen the little rat in days, a fact that he was quite comfortable with. He and the little animal had worked together in the past it was true, but with things going his way at the moment he had suddenly found that he had little use for his familiar anymore. It had been in the back of his mind to end their contract for a while now, but he had never gotten around to doing it, though why that was he couldn't fathom. Grib had helped him out of some tight spots sure, but the days when he needed the services of the unpleasant little animal had come to an end.

Maybe he should break their contract tonight?

Truthfully the reason he kept feeding his Familiar Mana in the past week was that it felt too awkward just cutting his Mana supply completely without any warning. Although he didn't like Rats, Grib was someone he had kind of come to know over the years. He supposed that he owed him a face to face dismissal by now, though the thought of owing anything to anybody (especaly his familiar of all things!) disagreed with him strongly.

Opening the door and looking downward Daichi was greeted by the sight of his rat laying on its belly spread eagle panting visibly. It was covered from head to tail in dust and appeared to be bleeding slightly from one ear.

He had been going to ask him what he meant by bothering him at this time of night but instead he found himself blurting out "Grib! What the devil happened to you?"

Grib simply lay there panting, till faintly he could hear him squeak out in a very small voice "...mana..."

"Hmmmm? Whats that? I cant hear you if you whisper you know."

Grib just lay there panting. "...Mana..." he squeaked again, slightly louder this time.

Daichi narrowed his eyes, what was his familiar about? He had never seen him like this before. Deciding that there might really be something wrong with him, Daichi grudgingly concentrated and gave out a small stream of Mana for the rat to absorb through their link.

It had no immediate effect on his familiar but after a little Grib pulled himself to his feet and said in a much louder, very hoarse voice that enhanced rather than diminished the sense of his exhaustion: "May I... come in Master?"

"Um... sure! Yeah, in fact I think its best if you do." Daichi said gesturing for Grib to enter, and trying to decide how he would word his decision to sever their contract. "There's ah... something we need to talk about in fact."

"Can I have some water?" Grib said, the rats tired voice cutting off his line of thought.

"Oh, yes." Daichi said absently, giving Grib another look.

He turned and left walked into his kitchen and getting a small bowl out. Filling it with water he brought it back into the living room and lade it on the floor next to Grib who was once again laying down.

As soon as the bowl was on the floor Grib scampered over to it and started lapping slowly from it and dipping his hands in raccoon like to splash water onto his head.

"What happened to you?" Daichi asked incredulously, his curiosity as to the state of his Familiar reaching a bursting point.

Grib kept on drinking for a little before looking up at him. He was no loner panting so hard and with the dust out of his hair he looked much revived.

"I didn't have enough Mana to talk loud enough to tell people who I was." Grib snapped up at him, sounding much more like his old snide self.

"I had to climb all the way up on my own thanks to you and I nearly got killed by some extermination gadget on the way up!" With his usual venom back in his voice, his familiar seemed to be at least back in his old stride again.

"You climbed all the way up here?" Daichi said snidely, slipping back into his own usual tone. "What did you do? Fall into a trash can?"

Grib just snorted "Yeah something like that."

Daichi watched the small animal drink from out of the corner of his eye. "So... you are early. I didn't think that your next report was due for another few days."

Grib stopped drinking again and looked up at him, with his tiny narrow inhuman face it was impossible to ever guess what he was thinking, a fact that annoyed Daichi to no end sometimes.

"Actually Master." Grib said his tone laced with cynicism. "I think you will find that my report is a few days overdue. I haven't been up here for almost two week's."

Daichi crinkled his face and scratched his head, had it really been that long? "Oh- right, well you know how things are Grib, I cant be bothered to remember things like that... I've go things going on... I've got work to do you know?"

"Yes I'm sure" Grib hissed sarcastically. "My little tax on you Mana must be a terrible damper on your ability to make those speeches."

Daichi flushed "Now look you little Rat." he said in a nasty tone."I appreciate what you did for me back when, but I don't need your help anymore, and I've got to do whats best for me see? And I cant have you drinking my magic dry, even a little if you cant make up for it."

Grib snorted again "Well that's good Master" he said in a funny, almost anticipatory voice. "Because I found something that you might be interested in."

Daichi paused, he had been about to go on to say how it was time for their contract to expire but the Rat had caught his interest. Grib almost always had something good when he used that tone.

He looked down at his familiar again. Grib was looking back up at him with large unreadable beady black eyes, but from the way the Rat held himself he though he could sense urgency or excitement.

"...Oh" Daichi said after a little "And what is it?"

"Two things, first, for the past few days I have been looking into the credentials of a certain Yuuno Scrya." He said with a little flare of drama.

Daichi perked up, 'Check the credentials' was Gribs long used term for dinging up dirt on people to use against them latter. Plus the name seemed familiar.

"I see, this Yuuno guy, what's his deal?"

Grib let out a irritated tisking noise that irritated Daichi in return. Why did the rat always expect him to keep up with who they were trying to crash?

"Leader of the Infinite Library?"

Daichi shook his head. He had never had a great memory for people, a fact that had driven his familiar up the wall for most of their relationship.

Grib let out another louder tisking noise, "The guy who shut your old article down when he took issue with how you were implying that the entire Ingrels dynasty was an elaborate hoax, by Burmician psychics. The one you swore not to forget."

"Oh!" Daichi said suddenly realizing just who the rat was taking about. "That Librarian guy! Yeah! You got anything on him?"

"Not yet Master, but I'm working on it, if I pull this off then you could get back at him for what he did to us, or even see if he would chip in with us, the support of the chief librarian goes a long way, possible leverage over him is not something to pass up."

Daichi scratched his chin, getting even with the man who had once threatened to stop his whole career dead in its tracts was an appealing prospect. Once again he was reminded why Grib could be so useful. Sure he was going great now... but what if it ended? What if his fame lost its momentum and he was sent back to square one? Suddenly letting his devious familiar go did not seem like such a good idea.

"Yes...yes Grib well, I must say that if you could whip something up on him that would be excellent for the both of us." He said with something like enthusiasm building up in his voice. _Yes_, he thought, he might need to confront the young librarian later and if he did so he would be more comfortable with something to hold over the his potential opponent. "How long do you think it will take?"

"That all depends, a couple of weeks maybe."

"Good, good, tell you what." Daich said looking down on Grib with a amiable expression. "You get to work on this and I'll start letting you leach off my Mana again, hows that sound?"

Grib turned his head sideways as if to say "What are you crazy?" and then walked over to Daichi's foot.

"That sound's like we have an understanding Master, now how about that Mana?"

"Sure." Daichi said shrugging. Inside he gave a little shove of will and opened the channel that lay between them letting his Magical energy flow thorough freely. He could feel it being sucked up greedily on the other end by Grib who was now walking in happy paces around on the floor about his feet.

"Ah, that's better." Grib sighed after he had stopped. Running suddenly across the room the rat took a running jump and leaped catlike of the floor onto the counter in a single bound.

"You cant imagine how frustrating it is to go from this to having to clime your way around everything."Grib said with a touch of relief.

"Well, you seem happy anyways" Daichi said sourly "No consideration at all for how it drains my power."

On the counter Grib snorted bitterly. "I use a fourth of the power that other Familiars do and you know it."

Sifting uncomfortably Daichi made to change the subject. Discussing his magical power, with anyone, made him irritable. The truth was that while he actually had quite a bit of magical power, he did not have the fortitude to use it for long. While he could have kept Grib in a human form, as his familiar often begged him, doing so gave him a headache. The feel of Magical power coursing though his body was not one he had ever really enjoyed much, not like some did, and continually feeding a familiar had been one of the things in his life that he had hated the most.

It was why he had been looking forward to ending their contract that night despite all the time they had known each other.

Now though it looked like once again Grib had managed to make himself to valuable to lose.

"So, what was the other thing you were going to tell me about?"

On the counter Grib stilled for a moment and then hoped off again.

"The... other thing, Master... is a bit different in nature." the Rat said as it walked back towards him.

"Eh?" Daichi gave Grib a doubting look. This was usually the time when he would ask for special requests, like a computer (that he had never seen again) or a magic device (that he had refused to get) or various odds and ends. The Rat liked hoarding things, and it was often from him that he would try to get them.

Instead of what he expected however Grib opened his mouth and said "There is something very strange going on in the sewers."

"What?" He asked not knowing what to make of the statement that had just come straight out of the left field. "What are you talking about now?"

"I said: there's something wrong in the sewers, and I want you to inform the authorities."

"Wait, so... whats wrong in the sewers?" He asked, confused, waving his hands in front of his face as if clearing the air.

"I don't know exactly what is happening." Grib said darkly "But there are things in the sewers, worms, big ones, and they are eating the rats down there."

"Hun?" Daichi said still not sure he was hearing his familiar right. " So, there are worms in the sewer? Like tapeworms? your not even making sense."

Something was off, Grib never babbled and he almost never joked, everything the rat said, from the first day he had met him to now had always been said with purpose. So now he was talking quite seriously about calling the authority's on worms?

"Start from the beginning, what is so important about bugs suddenly?"

Grib gave a sigh, it wasn't his usual exasperated sigh that he often used when Daichi asked him to explain something over again, it was a almost embarrassed sigh like he was getting ready to explain something weird.

"As you know, sometimes when want information I go into the sewers and listen to the rats who live down there."

Daichi nodded at the old news.

"I was trying to get info on this Yuuno Scrya character, when very... odd things started happening. Some people were spotted in the sewers, and shortly afterward huge worms began appearing all over the place eating my rats. At first there were only a few, but now they are growing and other things have moved in as well, I think somebody is summoning them."

"Wait, you think that they're being summoned?" Daichi said raising his eyebrows, he was still rather lost with the first idea and now Grib was talking about summonings?

"Master." the rat said slowly "I don't know if you have been following the news lately, but there is an Incident going on in Crannagan as we speak. People are disappearing left and right."

"What about it?"

Grib let out an exasperated snort as if what he was going on about was the most obvious thing in the world. " There's an incident going on and now there are strange people in the sewers and swarms of poisonous worms the size of snakes and worse have suddenly appeared. What do you think this is about?"

"Oh, Ah- you say these worm things are poisonous?" Daichi said, his concern over the situation growing as Gribs description continued. Now that he thought about it, that **was** fairly suspicious.

"From what I have seen:**Very.**"

"You really think that the ah criminals are summoning worm's in the sewers?" He said maintaining a touch of skepticism. "First of, why?"

"I don't know" Grib hissed "But whatever the reason there's something really bad going on underneath the streets."

Daichi gave Grib a long look. Though Grib had his attention now the whole conversation felt strangely unreal, in an out of place way. Only a few minutes ago they had been up to business as usual, a few minutes before that he had been thinking about his prospects, and now all of the sudden Grib was talking about evil worms in the sewer and conspiracy's.

"Okay...what do you want me to do about it?" Daichi growled out, his temper starting to rise. Why was it that Grib had brought up something that had nothing to do with him?

"Tell the authority's." Grib offered for the third time.

"Just call the authority's?" He said. As a rule he didn't like sticking his head into things that he wasn't personally concerned with much less something so out of the blue.

Grib nodded, his little head bobbing up and down once.

"Okay." he said without any real conviction.

Feeling slightly ridiculous he turned and walked over to the counter picking up the phone...

"What am I supposed to say?" He said at the last minute, turning back to his familiar and shrugging his shoulders. "Hello this is your newest celebrity, just calling to say that I think the criminals from your Incident are hiding in the sewers, you should send somebody?"

Grib let out a scoff. "Just say that you received a tip of from somebody."

Daichi scowled "That would mix me up in all of this, I don't want the police interrogating me. What would happen if that got out? It would be bad for my reputation if people thought that I had anything to do with an active incident."

Grib paused for a moment "Or they would think you were a decent person for telling the truth."

"Phf, not likely... Look Grib, I'd rather not." Daichi said with a hint of pleading in his voice. Suddenly the prospect of getting caught up in an Incident seemed intimidating. What if it turned out to be nothing? What if the Police went down and it turned out to be nothing? What if, Saint Kings forbid, the criminals found out and came after him?

The last thought really gave him reason for pause. He had heard from the news that these people had killed somebody for exposing them, what if they went after him? Admittedly it was a small possibility but, at the same time it wasn't really his problem. Wasn't it the job of the police to catch criminals?

"What?" Grib sharply. "What do you mean? Just call them and tell them to send some inspectors at least."

Daich ground his teeth a little giving the phone a long look. "Look... Grib this really doesn't have anything to do with me, I mean, ha!, I'm just a scientist."

"...Master." Grib said darkly after a awkward pause, his voice dripping with contemptuous disbelief. "Are you seriously going to just let this go because you don't feel like making a phone call? A situation that might be directly connected to the biggest incident since the Jail Incident-"

"Now look here!" Daichi snapped cutting Grib off. He didn't like it when the Rat talked to him that way, he never had, and he thought it was high time he put a stop to it. Throughout most of their relationship he had let the tiny rat boss him around with his "Logic". It always led to him doing something that he didn't like, or making him take a risk he wasn't comfortable with.

"I'm a scientist not the neighborhood watch! Its just a few worms! What are they going to do? Ozze on people? I think I've done more than my share of community service as is and I don't see what any of this has to do with me!"

"D-Daichi!" Grib spat out stuttering in rage at his outburst. "Your an **idiot**! You always have been but if you don't do something about this then you really are a fool! I've lead us straight so far and I think that I know a little more about what involves us than you do you big stupid brain dead-!"

His face contorted in rage, Daichi suddenly strode over and snatched his Familiar of the counter, ignoring his squeaks of pain as he caught the rat in a crushing grip.

"I think that's plenty out of you for tonight!" he said, striding over to the door. "If I don't care for something then I'm not going to stand you screeching on about it!"

Opening the door, he threw a squirming Grib down the hall, watching his twist in the air briefly before landing on his side eight feet away. He looked down at his fallen Familiar for a moment wondering if he had been to harsh. Feeling his Gribs heartbeat though there link he decided not to worry about it and turned to go back into his apartment.

Halfway though the door he stopped and turned again.

"And I forbid you to tell anyone else about this either, you hear me! If you want to keep getting Mana from me then I had better not hear anything about this!" He yelled down the hall. Turning and shuting the door behind him he made his way back to his armchair, his good mood spoiled for the night. What was he supposed to do anyway? It was the polices job to worry about things like that, not his.

Anyway, whatever happened he had kept his nose out of it, Even if Gribs strange story was somehow connected to the incident there was nothing that was going to affect him after all. Best to keep to your own affairs, as his mother had once said.

He went to bed shortly afterward, and dreamed troubled dreams of dark places.

*Scene *

Far away from the tall skyscrapers of Crannagans inner area were the many residential zones of the city, further divided between the smaller houses of the middle class and the more luxurious houses and mansions of the city's rich.

Within one of these richer neighborhoods was the large manor like house of Dr. Jared Stein. A very skilled Mage and Doctor he had become an accomplished magical surgeon and in turn a very wealthy man. The house that he had purchased for himself was a great three storied thing built on a rise in the land that was almost a hill but not quite. The house was ringed around by its considerable property, wooded and fenced in with a dark iron gate. It was a pleasant, if a little extravagant of a place, with various pieces of art and slender marble statues of human figures adorning the drive and the garden. Although nice, it was by no means the most expensive piece of property in the neighborhood nor the most well kept, it lacked all but a single servant and in places the ivy grew to high, or the grass grew freely, tall and uncut by any gardener. Altogether it was a quiet place, the home of a man who considered himself an artist and kept to himself while telling his neighbors politely to do the same.

Unfortunately for the owner it was also the place that Caster had singled out as her desired stronghold.

In the basement of Dr. Jared Stein's house, in the center of a luminous magical circle was the Servant herself. The room was lit only by the soft opal light that came from the circle itself, and Caster stood mostly in the dark as she chanted, filing the room and in turn the grounds with her subtle magic.

Having been dropped into the midst of the city a few days earlier with none but her master at her side, she had been as disorientated as the others were at first.

This had lasted only a few moments.

Unlike many other Servants who, to her great amusement, seemed to still be as lost as they were at first, Caster had quickly gained a firm grasp of her position and plan. Admittedly finding herself in such a strange and colossal place with no refuge, no sanctum to fall back to had been frightening. Casters were the Servants who, more than any other relied on a location to work from in safety and finding themselves separated or simply lacking such a stronghold was akin to a death warrant for them.

Even during the simple time between being summoned and being called to the church for departure, she had taken the time to set up a simple magical base. Although for modern magi it would have been a sanctuary worthy of a long term center of operations, for her it had been merely an outpost, a small matter of a half an hour and a couple hundred points of Prana to construct.

On arriving in the alien city she had not even had that. Exposed and under the impression that they could be set upon by the so called TSAB or the other Servants at any moment, Caster had initially been desperate to put as much space between herself and their point of arrival as possible.

In time this impression had faded.

Despite its bizarre and incredible architecture, the city that they had found themselves in was an almost unbelievably peaceful place, whoever the TSAB were she soon guessed that they neither knew nor suspected anything of the invasion that was taking place beneath there very noses. Realizing that she and her Master were not about to be set upon by hostile Magi, Caster had stabilized herself and begun feeling out the world around her with her arts.

And what a world it was. In some ways it was almost akin to the age of gods itself, with magic openly acknowledged and even practiced in the streets. And yet in most other ways not. The people were nothing like the people of her day, they rode in horseless chariots that moved as if they were the chariots by Hellos himself. They were more numerous than the sands and apparently every one of them a soft fool who followed the Magi that ruled over them with the unquestioning obedience and timidity of a lamb led to pasture. Or to slaughter.

Before further contemplation of those revelations was appropriate however. Caster had set about finding a suitable place for them to make their Stronghold.

It had taken about a day but she had found one, finally settling on this place. The house that she and her master now operated from was secluded, and although it was not near any ley lines, she had decided that it would suffice for her place of power during the Crusade. The man who lived here was one of high repute and his social status would serve as a good deterrent for the TSAB Maguses when they finally went looking.

In addition to this it's lack of any distinguishing feature or obvious attraction for her would make it so that her enemies, human and spirit, would not be given reason to suspect it.

Arriving at the doorstep of the place only minutes after selecting it due to her magics, they had surprised the unsuspecting Dr. and his housekeeper, and mesmerized both of them.

On learning that the man who owned the place was apparently considered a skilled Magus himself she had been surprised when he had had no mental defense against her at all. Consequently, making the healer who lived there believe that she was his sister whose presence he did not wish to reveal had been child's play for her. At first she had believed that it was a mere fluke, after all, what Magus in the world left themselves unprotected against intrusion from the mental realms?

It was only later that she had realized the truth. Not only were the common people of the strange city soft, but many of the Maguses as well. After realizing this and pondering it for a time it had suddenly come to Caster in a flash of insight what she was looking at.

A land fat on peace. A people that were so used to daily comforts and security that they truly suspected no danger. No knife in the dark, no poison in the wine nor any serpent in the bed.

It had set back Caster expectations of the enemy a great deal and although she had lately learned that not all of the people in the land were so, it was a viewpoint that she still applied to most of the TSAB in general. In other words a people who would be easy to befuddle and bend to her will.

She had set to work on converting the place into her sanctum as soon as possible, her Master insisting that she spare no effort in making their new base of operations impenetrable. Upon hearing the specifications of his requests she had told him quite plainly that the level of protection that he was demanding would taken a lot of Prana even by her standards and though it would not be unreachable by any means it would take longer than was convenient. He had been unconcerned by this however, though when she discovered why it had come as a unsettling revelation.

By the low standards of the Maguses of the modern era her Master was a expert practitioner. Powerful and skilled she had expected the man to supply her with the Prana that she would need in order to create her Temple. Her Master however had other ideas.

Not desiring to lessen his own power by personally supplying the Prana needed, her Master had proposed that they simply gather as much energy as they wished by having her prey on the populace around them en mass.

Although a daring and admittedly logical course of action, it was one that made Caster uncomfortable. Foolish though they were she harbored no particular grudge against the people of the city and the idea of using them thus seemed unnecessary cruel. It had been their first real clash, normally she would not have gone so far to resist her Master in the matter but the argument had become an opportunity for her. Faking open refusal of his orders she had successfully tricked her Master into expending a Command Seal to enforce his will. It had worked and the gray hared Magus who was her Master was now one Command Seal short over an issue that was not **so** objectionable to her. It had however given her one more thing to think on.

Though the command "Drain as many civilians as it takes to complete your Temple." should have been nebulous enough to disregard, it had carried much more power than she had anticipated. Clearly her Master, though not approaching her by any means, was a Sorcerer of great strength. She would have to keep a closer eye on him than she had originally though.

Her Master was a tallish, older Man with grey hair and a face like a steel mask. He observed the world with two small eyes, gray like his hair and expressionless like his face. Although he was always quite civil to her (a fact that she appreciated more than he guessed) it did not take clairvoyance to realize that he was a very hard man, perfectly willing to do terrible things. It was a fact that she had picked up even before he demanded that she prey upon the people to fuel his Crusade.

Aside from this she could determine nothing of him except for the fact that his mental defenses were impenetrable to her more subtle methods. Aside from that all was a frustratingly clueless mystery. He had not even revealed his name to her, leaving her to call him Master instead. In a way he disquieted her slightly. She liked it when she could understand people and dissect their motives, their desires and fears, what drove them, and what brought them to despair. With such things came power and the know how to bring even the strongest person to their knees without having to cast a single spell.

Men such as her current Master denied her that knowledge and became unpredictable and if there was one thing that scared Caster, it was an unpredictable element. No mater how small, unpredictable factors could bring the best laid plans to ruin before one even realized it. And having one so close to her was nerve wracking, especially when the element was a comparative powerful Magus that held her command seals. Normally one or two unpredictable elements were unavoidable, no plan was perfect after all, but now things were different.

She had been called up to retrieve the Grail from thieves that neither she nor anyone else had known anything about and upon discovering them had found that they were a massive otherworldly organization with nigh infinite resources.

Her Master was undecipherable so far and the other Servants who had been called upon were even worse.

Many of them were what she had expected. The Lancer Servant was typical trash. Brash, crude, loud, and obsessed with his gender he reveled in his own strength and reminded her a little of a certain person who she would hate for evermore. Men like him made her feel **sick** with hate. Killing, or even better breaking him would be fun, as near as she could get to destroying someone like the one who had betrayed her in life..

The other Caster, the one who had been dubbed Bluebeard, was a pathetic excuse for a Magus even by current standards. She had penetrated his magical defenses with a fraction of the difficulty that she had expected of another Caster Servants wards and had done so without him even realizing it. After watching him at her leisure over the course of a day or two and gauging his power she had come to one simple conclusion.

The man was a petty hack who relied on a rudimentary grasp of a few particularly nasty tricks and the abomination that was his Noble Phantasm. So far he seemed to be focused on setting up a second rate territory of some kind, kidnapping children and summoning a host of petty sea monsters. While admittedly fearsome, the creatures would not hold up against determined resistance or win him the Crusade and he seemed to hope they would.

And of course there was the Berserker. Hercules. She had recognized his disgusting form back in the church as soon as he had revealed himself. Upon realizing who he was she had had a brief moment of fear before she realized who his Master was. As of now her feeling towards him were mixed. On one hand, of all the people to be summoned why HIM? If what the story's about him in her day had said were true then the man was force of nature, a walking juggernaut who would be nearly impossible to kill or subdue though any means. This was not helped by the reputation that he had gathered to himself during his life. She was painfully aware that the mans legend far outstripped hers. Were it not for one thing he would be straight at the top of her concerns.

As it was however she was not too worried about him. For from the moment his Master had walked into the church Caster had been able to see, with little more than a cursory glance, what the little white haired girl really was.

A failure. A mediocre piece of magical trash that was probably not long for thisworld even without a Servant to support. Factoring in the huge tax of Mana that was inevitably brought on by supporting a Servant, and a Beserker of Hercules strength no less, Caster estimated that at this rate she could start breaking down at any moment.

Beserkers Master was ready to pop like an over ripe boil, all it needed was a little pressure. Then, despite all his strength, the massive demigod would go once his anchor to the world had died, and all Caster would have to do would be make sure that no one else formed a contract with the Black Giant in the short time between his Masters death and his dissipation.

Those three would not be problems. The others however were a different matter and out of them two in particular intrigued her.

First among these was the young girl who had nearly disposed of the aforementioned Bluebeard herself back in the church.

The short Saber Servant, beautiful and graceful as she was, practically radiated royalty. Having been royalty herself for most of her life Caster had picked up on this almost immediately, noting however that it was not quite like any royalty she had ever seen.

The small Servant seemed to carry herself with both the sensibility's of a noble and the fiery boldness of a warrior, somehow mixing the two of them into a blend of grace and strength that intrigued her deeply. She would not mind getting to know the Saber Servant better in the future, she found the idea of a Servant who had the strength of a hero but the manners of a maiden to be quite intriguing...

Apart from her demeanor the Saber Servant more than lived up to her class title, being a supremely skilled fighter and, as observing the fight with Rider had proven, possessing a formidable amount of magical resistance to boot. Worse however the Saber seemed to have some sort of grudge against her if those looks she had been given back at the chapel were any hint. It went against all of Caster's logic,as far as she could tell from the Saber's style and armaments she was from a time long after her's. Maybe the girl simply had a prejudice against Caster's, though something instinctive inside her told her that it was more than that. Either way, though she was confidant that it could be done either destroying or collecting her would be a fascinating challenge laden a reward that was tempting in more ways than two.

But that would have to take a back seat to watching the one who had killed the Crusade Organizer.

From the moment he had walked into the Church Caster had known the strange fearless Servant was trouble. Though it might have been less notable to others, to Media the witch, granddaughter of the Sun god Helios, it was immediately apparent that the Servant who called himself Gilgamesh was not of mortal born. With hair as golden as the sun god's himself and eyes as red as garnets the man was so obviously a demigod that it was almost painful to her. Being the granddaughter of Helios in the height of the age of gods, Caster was more than familiar with people of divine heritage but even so she did not think she had ever witnessed somebody who wore it so plainly in their posture and bearing.

Servants were trouble, Servant Demigods often doubly so and that man acted like he had not a care in the world in a room full of some of the most dangerous entity's in the world. He had openly slain the primary authority of the Crusade in front of everybody, he wore his strange name around like a badge and he didn't even don his Servants clothing preferring to wear the modern equivalent of royal clothing despite it complete lack of protection.

But more than any of those things, he spoke and acted like he knew every one of them, even telling her that he "Remembered her foul Craft from the last war." It was impossible, she had never seen him or even heard of him before so he must be bluffing. But if he was bluffing then it meant that he was completely confidant in his own power to the point of completely disregarding her and everyone else as potential threats.

He had been the first Servant that she had looked for upon gaining the use of her laboratory and what she saw did nothing to comfort her. The golden haired demigod was not even searching for the Grail. Caster had spent more time watching him than anyone else and as far as she could tell he was spending his time leisurely exploring the city, attending plays, introducing himself to the higher class of society and even once: Gambling.

Everything about him was wrong. Completely and utterly wrong and she found herself inadvertently dreading him.

It was illogical, she was the sting puller, the invisible one behind the throne. It was not the first time she had been dismissed by powerful men so why should she be so shaken by his? In the end the only answer she could come up with was this: She could feel in her bones that the golden haired man would be the end of them all.

In the end there was only one thing to be done. Lay her plans carefully and cast the reading bones into the bowl. Was she not one of the greatest enchantresses who had ever lived?

There were others who needed further consideration but for the time being she had enough to work with. She and her Master would pull through, or they wouldn't and her mortal anchor would die while she went back to the Throne.

Finishing her chanting Caster turned from the circle and walked over to the table that she had set up in the corner. With the worry over her own master to add to what seemed like an ever mounting pile of concerns she couldn't help but wonder if it wound not simply be better for her to have a Master who knew very little or nothing about Magic. A warrior who she could support from the shadows. Someone intelligent and kind but not brash like so many were...

Shaking herself out of her moment of wishfulness Caster sat down at the small table she had set up and considered her current plans. After the mornings necessary work she would need to pay the TSAB a little visit. Two of them actually. One to secure an informant who could keep her up on all that she needed to know, and the second to feel out their magic and methods personally. If she could become close to any of the TSAB personnel then she could stand on both sides of the war quite comfortably.

The first of these visits was already in motion, a certain letter she had written earlier was already on its way to her intended target.

Her work with the TSAB however would have to be finished up later in the day, for now she had a different project to finish before she started that one. Work, work, work. It never ended, there was always something else that had to be done.

Puling her wandering thoughts together Caster begun to think of her task at hand.

With most of her magical defenses well in place, she was now concentrating on the construction of her Temple itself, a task that would require vast quantity's of Prana to complete to her Masters specifications, not to mention her own preferences.

Whatever other problems she had with her Master she had to admit that they thought alike on at least one level. Like herself her Master preferred to go to the extreme when it came to base construction. The veritable fortress he had requested of her might have made other Caster Servants balk. Not her though. Once it had become clear that her master was 100% dedicated to seeing this through, she had thrown aside most of her inhibitions of using the populace as a resource and proceeded to collect the required power from the lives of the Mid- Childian's. As of now she had drained about 30 people in all, to the point of coma, with one or two over it.

It was a good start, and with her powerful Bounded Field's, Wards and other defenses in place she now deemed that she had enough Prana and security to commence the construction of her real base.

Caster's Temple was her workshop, her laboratory and her shelter all in one. It was her most sacred sanctuary rebuilt through the ability of Territory Creation that was her privilege as a powerful Caster Servant. Constructed from pure Mana she would make hers in the likeness of the architecture of her homeland, a fitting self tribute to her legend. Completion would mark the end of the preliminary stage of the war for her, and hopefully become a ground that would be both unfindable and if need be unassailable.

Cater sat at the table with her eyes closed for a long time. Inside her head she was drawing out her schematics. Finally she stood up from the table and walking back into the middle of the circle held out her arms high into the air.

The air began to wrap around her, twisting and flowing as vast amounts of Prana began to flow from her magical circuits, integrating with the fumes of burnt Viscum that she had filled the room with earlier.

Cupping her hands together Cater held them above her hooded head like one trying to catch rain in their hands. The soft glow from the circle below her grew stronger and stronger till it illuminated everything in a bluish half light.

Still holding her hands together Caster began to chant, loudly this time, the ancient and harsh language of the Colchis spilling out of her mouth and making the room ring with syllables never before heard in Mid-Childa or any of the realms of the TSAB.

As she chanted on her hands began to fill with a deep blue light, the Mana in the room becoming so intense that it condensed and filled the cup of her hands till it overflowed and ran down from over her head like water, spilling onto the floor where it swirled at her feet like a heavy fog.

The brilliant not-fluid Mana continued to collect in her hand and flow out onto the floor as if her hands held in them a hidden spring that would not run dry. It spilled and spilled, the Prana gathered from all of her victims mixed with that of her own and gathered by her will into the room before her till it began to fill the entire chamber, rising past her ankles, and then her thighs till she was waist deep in it. A lightly tossing pool of Prana, ready for her hand to simply reach out and shape it.

Caster took in a deep breath of satisfaction mixed with distaste. The Prana that she now nearly swam in had been gathered... unscrupulously... but Prana it was and she could not suppress a thrill of challenge at the application of her unmatched skills. When other Servants did battle they experienced the thrill of their skills and powers put to the test against another. For Caster however that thrill came not from battle but from scheming and even more so, from creating.

This here was the test of her ability's.

Finally letting her hands drop and the gathering cease, she ran one hand through the liquid Prana fog around her waist. Holding the other hand out she beckoned and from the shadows flew a beautiful silver harp that she began to pluck softly.

Her harping rose as she resumed her chanting, this time in a different tone.

The mist around her began to move in concordance with her song, flowing upwards into the air as it was shaped and reared into looming forms by the Enchantresses on the ground below.

*Scene*

_Later that day_

Sunlight streamed through the windows of St. Hilde Academy of Magic as the students sat in their seats looking at the clock on the wall.

At her desk Vivio Takamachi sat swinging her feet back and forth at high speed while she waited for the bell to ring. Fidgeting in her seat a little Vivio gave her friend Rio Wessly a glance.

The black haired girl was siting calmly at her seat regarding the teacher carefully as he went on about the new safety measures that were in place. Although she wasn't clear on the specifics Vivio knew that big things were happening in the city around her. It was almost like the other time. The time before...

"And so." The strict voice of Mr. Kelisi, the slim science teacher, came "Because of this from now on all students are going to be escorted to a specific place after school where they will wait for their parents to pick them up before being allowed to leave."

Vivio tapped her pen on the desk. Normally she would have paid much closer attention to such an announcement but today was different. For one her mother had already told her all about the police precautions due to the incident during breakfast earlier that day.

The second was her friend Einhalt.

The day before Einhalt had shown up at her house quite upset. Although Vivio had asked her again and again the older pail blond haired girl would not tell her even though she obviously had something on her mind that was bothering, no, even tormenting her.

Vivo had come to understand Einhalts quiet and rather secretive nature in the years since she had met her and in the end she had not pushed to hard to find out even though she burned with curiosity. Vivio had actually seen Einhalt in some pretty stressful situations before but she had never seen her this worked up over something since the Inter Middle competition two years ago.

Leaving Einhalt's burden alone for the time, Vivio had simple stayed there for her friend, talking like it was normal, but making it clear that she was there for her if something was up.

Her tact was rewarded that night when she had received a text message on her device Sacred Heart. Einhalt had told her to meet her behind the gym that day after school.

Vivio was certain that her friend would tell her what was the matter then and she had spent the rest of the day in restless speculation, even almost forgetting her lunch as she went out the door in the morning.

"Under no circumstance are any of you allowed to leave campus unattended, even after school has been let out. I repeat, in order to leave you must have a parent or guardian with you. These are dangerous time's, and I hope that each of you will respect the safety of yourselves and others by maintaining the boundary's that we have set for you."

The bell rang and Mr. Kelisi gave a nod dismissing the class to leave.

Siting bolt upright Vivo headed for he door faster than anyone, getting there first even before the ones nearest to it had gotten out of there seats completely.

She could tell that her exit had drawn a few looks, but it was fine. Smiling happily as she made her way, almost skipping down the hall though the school as the other less enthused students left their classrooms at a more sedate pace.

It was a nice nearly cloudless day, with a soft wind and the sweet smell that came from the flowers when they bloomed present in the air.

Crossing through the now crowded field that made up the center of the school, Vivio headed straight for the gym walking past a gaggle of older students who nearly towered over her.

They gave her cheerful nods as they went past making her smile even more. Vivio never flaunted her powers, neither of her Mommy's nor Einhalt would ever have tolerated it (though Vivio suspected that Rio would not have minded doing it with her), but never the less word of her participation in the Inter Middle Competition and her skill in the Strike Arts had eventually gotten out. She, Einhalt, Rio and Corona had all become something of celebrity's in the school overnight.

Already regarded with something like awe because of who her parents were, Vivio had found herself quite suddenly in the definite position of school idol.

Although Einhalt hatted it, Vivio found that she rather liked the attention from her peers. Her mothers had even gone so far as to lecture her about not becoming "Arrogant" as they put it, though she could only wonder why. Did they really think that she would become a stuck up meanie just because a lot of people liked her?

Still, it had moved from fun to kind of weird in the first few weeks, and although it had died down somewhat since then Vivio still often found herself in the position of being hailed and fawned upon by complete strangers and or asked to hang out with various other groups.

Although she had obliged a couple of times, Vivio found that she was sometimes uncomfortable in such groups, who sometimes treated her less like a friend and more like somebody to try and continually impress. Because of this she still hung around her first four friends the majority of the time, their company feeling much more natural considering that they really knew her.

Skipping around the side of the gym which faced the back back of the school Vivio slowed to a stop and looked around for Einhalt. Behind the Gym stretched the P.E. blacktop beyond which was the big grass sports field and finally the school fence, a tall white wooden thing that separated the school ground's from the road beyond.

It was a large expanse of land and it took Vivio a moment before she finally spotted the figure of her freeing in the distance standing all the way across the field by the fence itself.

She paused a moment when she spotted her friend, her long pigtails apparent from even this distance.

Whatever it was that Einhert had on her mind must have been even more serious than she thought. They could get in trouble of being out all the way out there by themselves.

Vivio looked around once or twice to see if there were any teachers present. Seeing that the back of the school was abandoned except for the two of them she set of across the field towards the figure of Einhalt who she could now tell was looking at her in return.

Walking across the field took longer than she though it would, the slight worry about getting into trouble and the curiosity over what Einhalt would tell her made her heart beat out of proportion with the amount of energy she was exerting.

Finaly, her heart going a bit fast Vivio reached the back of the whitewashed fence where he friend was standing regarding her nervously.

"Ah Einhalt. I came, like you told me." Vivio said forgoing her usual bubbly manner of address.

"Thank you." Einhalt said stiffly looking awkward. "Really" she added on to the end as if she thought that Vivio might not believe her.

"Oh its no problem." Vivio said breaking out into her best smile. "You know anything you want I'm here for."

Einhalt gave a stiff nod, not looking Vivio in the face but down to the side wordlessly.

Long silences were par for the course with Einhalt and Vivo had long since learned to simple take it as a part of her personally. Now the one that she was giving was stress filled and tense rather that her usual calm quietness.

"What's wrong Einhalt-san." Vivio said dropping her smile and trying to catch her friends face with her eyes.

Her quiet friend hesitated for a moment longer.

"Vivio."Einhalt said finally "You know of the things that are happening in this city as we speak?"

Suddenly feeling a weight of something like dread come down on her shoulder Vivio nodded. Was Einhalt involved somehow? Had she found something out?

"All these murders are suddenly taking place." Einhalt said sounding out of breath "And I... yesterday I could have..." she trailed of still not meeting Vivio in the eyes.

"Yes Einhalt?" Vivio pushed ever so slightly, suddenly scared for her friend.

"Last night when I was walking down the street to school... I saw somebody, a woman who was arguing with a man." Einhaltt stopped for a moment looking like she was almost in the throws of silent panic.

"I-It was Olivie." Einhalt finally gushed out her voice nearly breaking. "I'm sure of it!"

Vivio's mouth went slack a little "Eh, do you mean that it was... my..."

Einhalt nodded looking like she was going through something painfull as she did.

"But Olivie is dead." Vivio said trying to bring the conversation into a place she could work with. "She cant just be back all of the sudden." She said a note of resolution in her voice. She might not know much about some things , but Vivio knew that people couldn't come back from the dead. Both her Mothers had said so and besides that everyone knew so.

Einhalt nodded again but did not feel so convinced. Vivio did not have her inherited memory's, and she simply couldn't understand. When she had seen Olivie on the street she had had a flash of recognition so clear that for a moment she was transported back to the moment at which her Ancestor Claus had last seen her, standing tall and proud on the battlefield that was to shortly be her death.

The resemblance was similar beyond coincidence but more so than that was the feeling, the presence that the short woman had emitted. She had only felt it after she had recognized her but once she did it was unmistakable, a presence of regal power and brightness that could only have come from an mighty King of Ancient Belka.

It was the feeling that she knew Claus had once felt from the Saint King Olivie and because of it she knew that the woman in the blue skirt was truly who she had first taken her to be.

"So... " Vivio said feeling shocked not to mention moderately confused. "What do you think? Is it another one of the descendants like us?" While it was highly unlikely that anyone else would be descended from Olivie ( the Ancient messiah-like Saint King had had no offspring, Vivio herself was only a clone grown from Olivie's DNA taken from a sample of her blood from an ancient relic) it was still a possibility. The only possibility really.

"Maybe" Einhalt said pausing and considering it. She had not though of that. It was... possible she guessed now that she took it into account.

"But if that is true then it she must be like me, an inheritor of memory. Someone who has already reproduced a part of Olivies personality... a reincarnation."

Vivio was watching her friend with a almost scared expression. Einhalt had a strange intense look on her face, an almost greedy expression. It frightened her a little, she had known Einhalt for a very long time now and she knew how much her inherited memory's drove her but now that she saw how her best friend was taking the appearance of another one like them it was still unnerving.

"But what could it mean? These murders start and then suddenly another descendant of Olivie turns up in the city? It 's got to be connected somehow..."

Einhalt gave a little nod. "Yes, of course it must be. Olive- I mean- her descendant would never let such a thing go on unopposed while she had any strength." She stated firmly getting more confident as she spoke. It would make sense wouldn't it? That Olivie or her descendant would use her power just like she had before, in the past age.

"She must be trying to help stop this, as a civilian collaborator... or even alone and incognito!" Eihalt said growing more enthused as she spoke.

Vivio smiled again at her friends renewed spirits. "I bet your right!" She chirped. "Either way you should tell the Saint Church, they would know what to do."

"Oh, yes. I suppose that would be best." The pony-tailed girl said looking doubtful.

"Of course it would." Vivio insisted, feeling like Einhalt was being ridiculous. What else would you do in a situation like this? It seemed like informing the Saint Church of the fact that a possible descendant of the ancient leader they venerated had come to Mid in a time of crisis would have been the first thing that should have crossed her best friends mind.

_She probably wanted to talk with her alone... and then fight her. _Vivio thought sadly. Einhalt had long since stopped challenging every possible combatant that she ran across, her exposure to Vivio's friends and acquaintances not to mention the Saint Church itself and the Wolkenritter tempering the young martial artistes passion into something more manageable. Despite all of this however Einhalt had never lost all of what had once driven her to roam the city at night to duel other fighters.

"After all" Vivio said going on. "if the Saint Church isn't involved already they will definitely get involved if they hear this."

"Alight, I'm sorry Vivio... I was being silly" Einhalt said looking her in the eye at last.

"No problem." Vivio chimed her face splitting onto her biggest smile. "We will go over together after school and tell Gracia and the others all about it."

"Mmm" Einhalt hummed, she supposed that it would be the best. After all it would be better to have Olivie's descendent working with the authority's than alone. But at the same time... _I'll find her_ she thought _And I will do it before the Saint Church does_.

"Lets go Einhalt." Vivio said exuberantly, a strange feeling had come over her, like they wee about to start on an adventure of some kind just like her parents always were. If they told the Saint Church and then met the new Saint descendant then she would know what was going on and they could fight the bad guy's. "I think that this is the start of something great!"

Einhalt smiled back at her with a slight blush. "Alright" She muttered "We had better go, if we don't go qui-"

"Hey" Vivio said struck suddenly with a new thought that stopped her from noticing how her friend had just cut off her sentence in alarm. "If we find her and it turns out that it is a Olivie descendant then will I have an older sister?"

Einhalt didn't answer, instead holding up her hand and gesturing for silence.

"Hmm?" Vivio looked past her friend to where she was looking in alarm.

A few meters down from them along the school fence a pair of hands had appeared griping the fence and a small startlingly white top of a head was just visible. Somebody was climbing in from the other side.

Giving a little "Oh!" Vivio looked on as the two hands flexed back and forth a little on their grip as if struggling. Then as quick as a grasshopper a small figure vaulted itself over the fence landing rather clumsily on the grass below with a "oohf!".

It was a girl, a little younger than them but with the most astonishing features that either of them had ever seen. As she sat up from her fall and looked around Vivio could not help but tense a little.

In mid there were all kinds of people from all over the muilitverse sporting a vast range of hair and skin colors. Purple was not at all uncommon nor was pink and the two girl had grown up seeing it all. Even her own eyes were not normal in any sense of the word, her complete hetrerochromia giving her red and green eyes rather than the steady eye color that everyone else possessed. Although she had heard her Mothers say that there were other such people Einhalt was the only one that she had ever met, her Blue and Purple eye matching her own mismatched pair. Even in Mid however, with all of her family and there many strange acquaintances they had never seen anyone who looked like this.

The girls hair was long and straight (though ruffled a little from her fall), Sweeping down to her waist and the most pail color of pure white that Vivio had ever seen even on Zafira. Her skin was almost as pail as her hair and to top it all of her eyes looked out at them a deeper crimson than even her mother Fate possessed. She was dressed in red sweatshirt that didn't quite fit her and long green skirt with a dirt stain on one side. It all clashed rather horribly with her hair and face.

Looking around the albino girl spotted the two of them watching her and gave them a curious look. Then she smiled, a happy but slightly mischievous, almost condescending grin

Standing up completely the strange girl started walking over to them still fixing them with her smile as she did so. In an upright position, with her long white hair hanging elegantly at her sides, complementing her eyes perfectly she was at once both strange and beautiful if a little awkward with the outfit, striking Vivio with the sense that the girl was something otherworldly that fallen from the clouds into their schoolyard and then gotten smeared in mud during the fall.

"Hello, there." She called out to them in a high simpering voice lightly laced with a strange accent. "Do you two go here?"

For a moment neither of them said anything still recovering from the sudden intrusion by the strange Girl. It did not last.

"I'm sorry" Einhalt answered sharply. "But eavesdropping and jumping the fence into the school are not good ways to introduce yourself. Who are you? And how much did you hear?"

Vivio gave her friend glance, surprised at her shortness. Einhalt was looking irritated at the sudden intruder if a little unbalanced by her appearance.

The strange girl paused for a moment looking a little hurt. She recovered almost instantly however and her smile shifted slightly becoming a bit broader, her eyes narrowing she leaned forward slightly giving the impression of a playful cat looking at couple of birds.

"Ah!sorry bout this." Vivio cut in feeling like she should try to amend her friend's rudeness. "My friends just a little tense right now, you caught us at a bad moment. I'm Vivio by the way." She finished introducing herself as cheerfully as she could.

The girl blinked, her rather nasty expression faltering as she looked taken of guard by the sudden apology and outpouring of warmth from Vivio.

Einhalt's face darkened not appreciating what Vivio was doing by undermining her questions. Vivio was sometimes to friendly for her own good, she thought to herself. Looking at the girl she could not help but feel that she had been listening to every word they said about Olivie.

Turning her head sideways like a bird the albino girl's confusion disappeared too, replaced for a second by a completely blank, dull emotionless expression.

"Ummm, Are you alright?" Vivio said feeling weirder and weirder as the newcomer continued to look right at her with a expressionless face. She briefly wondered if the girl was autistic when she suddenly snapped her head back up in a strangely mechanical motion and broke into a big smile of her own.

"Yes, I am." She replied shortly in her accented almost birdlike voice. "And your name is Vivio."

"Ah? That is what I just said." Vivio replied feeling more and more confused. Next to her Einhalt was looking at the girl like she nuts in addition to being unwelcome.

"Yes!" The girl agreed with her cheerfully seeming oblivious to her own irony "I am Mahail. Its nice to meet you Vivio!"

"Thanks, so um, why were you climbing the fence?"

"I had to get over somehow and I didn't want to walk all the way around. Anyhow I heard you two talking so I thought that I would come over here and meet you." Mahail said simply "Besides I want to see this place."

"You heard us speaking?" Einhalt snapped "What did you hear?"

The girl who called herself Mahail smiled and turned a dismissive gaze at her. "Hmm, I heard you talking about your ancestors or something and somebody called Olivie stopping something or other."

"Wait what do you mean by "Somebody called Olivie?" Eihalt asked her expression getting even more distasteful at the impudent girl before her.

"What you you mean "What you mean?" Is it somebody I should know about?" Mahail chimed looking confused again.

Einhalt went red in the face, her mouth gaping open. She didn't know whether to be astonished by the girls ignorance or offended at what could very well be a snub. She would have immediately gone for the later conclusion were it not for the Girls genuine look of mild curiosity and her general oddness thus far.

"E-Eh!" Vivio squeaked looking almost as surprised as Einhalt "You really don't know who Olivie is?"

Mahail shook her head looking puzzled at their shock.

"Really?" Vivio pressed her normally high voice going up a note. It would be so weird if it were true, she thought. Everyone she had ever met had always know exactly who the last Saint King was just by her first name. It was just something that everybody knew since before they even knew they knew!

"Mm hmm." Came the reply, sounding totally unaware of any strangeness.

"Like really really?" Vivio pressed leaning her head in close as if to detect Mahails sincerity by a better look at her head.

"Yes really!" Mahial said exasperated. "Why should I know an Olivie?"

"B-But everybody knows who Olivie is!" Vivio gasped feeling very much like somebody was telling her that the sky was read with a straight face.

Mahail crossed her eyebrows looking irritated again though it lacked the menacing quality that her ire had possessed before. "Well I don't," she stated firmly crossing her arms over her chest. Continuing on in a dismissive tone she added: "And I know a lot of things that other people don't know so it must not be that important."

Einhalts eye's flashed open wide and she exploded: "You take that back!" She yelled at the smaller albino girl, her hands clenching again into fists at her sides.

"Einhalt!" Vivio cried, trying to curb her friends wrath at the white haired girl. "Don't worry she didn't mean it."

"She meant exactly what she said." Einhalt snapped icily, glaring at Mahail in indignation.

"I meant exactly what I said." Mahial echoed in a high indignant tone, giving Vivio a rueful look.

"You see!" Einhalt snapped again.

"Wait wait! But if she doesn't know who Olivie is then how can she?" She said quickly, wiggling her way between the to. Vivio hated fights (at least verbal ones that was) and didn't think that even a total stranger should get into one over a misunderstanding.

Einhalt made a tisking noise with her mouth. Vivio, always trying to keep things pleasant between people even if said person was rude to the point of almost blatantly insulting one of the most important religious figure's in Mid.

Not to mention someone whom she had a deep personal concern with.

The Girl before her was now firmly on her "Do not like list". Einhalt hated rudeness and she had a deep distaste for the ignorant, the Girl in front of them, now shooting her glares in return was both. Rude and ignorant. In fact, who had ever heard of someone not knowing who Olivie was? So rude and willfully ignorant. And judging by her age an upstart to.

Relaxing at Vivios request but internally deciding to try and ditch this strange girl at the first opportunity, Einhalt took a step back and let her face sink into a glare that Mahail promptly returned with a gusto.

"So.. eh, what are you doing here Mahail?" Vivio said scrambling for something else to talk about less the two started fighting again.

"I wanted to see what the school looked like." Mahail said airily looking happy to be asked. "I've never seen one before. Especially a _Magic School_."

"You've never been to a school before?" asked Einhalt incredulously.

"Nope, I got taught by my uncle. This looked much nicer though!" She answered cheerfully giving St. Hidle's large Gothic looking buildings and tall spires an admiring look . "And to think that you can do Magic in public! I never would have thought something like that would ever be allowed!"

Vivio and Einhalt turned to each other simultaneously, both looking confused now.

"You can do magic? And your parents don't let you do it in public?" Vivio asked. _That would be awful!_she thought. But why?

"Your not from around here." Einhalt stated, piecing things together faster than Vivio did.

Mahail looked ever so slightly uncomfortable for a moment but then giggled. "Maybe, maybe not."

Einhalt mentally noted that as a definitely. It was unsurprising now that she thought about it, the Girl before them was already radiating a strange manner that spoke of distant places. It might also explain why she had never heard of Olivie, though she still didn't fully believe that Mahail was telling the truth about that. The Saint's Church was a vast organization that spread across countless worlds, possibility bigger than even the TSAB itself the main object of its doxology was know far and wide. Only a truly backwards planet would have never heard of her before. But if what Mahail said was true then the world she was from did not have magic publicly acceptable either.

That left only a few options.

"Your from an non-administrated world aren't you." Einhalt inferred bringing up what struck her as the only possibility.

"Mmm? A non-administrated world? I guess that's what you guys call it..." Mahail made out thoughtfully sticking her finger to her lip and looking upwards. "We are not with you people anyway."

_Yes_ Einhalt thought, _that would explain a lot_. She relaxed as she realized that it was probably true that the Albino girl before them did not know who Olivie was. Her relaxation turned to slight embarrassment as she suddenly regretted her anger with the younger girl.

"I see." Einhalt bowed. "I am sorry for the difficulty I gave you, I did not know that you were that unaffiliated with Magical Civilization."

Mahail looked at Einhalt suspiciously as if trying to decide whether there was an insult in there somewhere before she apparently passed the test and the girl's expression softened a little.

"Hmph." She tossed her hair back. "I guess you could be forgiven."

Shrugging of a flash of anger at the girls arrogance Einhalt finished her bow. Even if she had been in the wrong for being so defensive at first the Girl in front of her was still definitely an arrogant little brat. She could see that even Vivio was beginning to sense it from her last comment.

"So." Vivio breathed "Your from a Non- Administrative world? That's like my mothers!"

"Your Mothers?"

"Yup, I'm adopted. Their from a planet called non-administrated world 97!"

"Hmm" Mahial hummed looking down at the ground in thought. "Never heard of it. What a weird name!"

"All non-administrated worlds are named like that." Einhalt said looking out over the school. They had been there longer than she had expected and with the new crackdown due to the incident they could get in trouble for staying out like this.

"Mmm, sounds boring." Mahail muttered "But I cant see why they let you do Magic in public here. It doesn't seem to different from where I come from and they'll kill you for doing magic in public there."

The air suddenly went still, Mahails statement hanging in the air like an ill timed joke.

"What!" Vivio and Einhalt both gasped at the same time, suddenly staring profoundly at Mahail who once again stood there looking confused at their reaction.

"Gezz! You guys get exited so easily!" She sniffed.

"W-What did you mean "They'll kill you?"" Vivio spat out unable to believe her ears, her arms flailing comically about her head. Next to her Einhalt's eyebrows had shot up into her bangs at the radical claim that had just slammed into them out of the left field.

"Look." Mahail started in her high pitched voice, looking out over the grounds. "I don't see what you two are going on about. Besides this is boring, I want to see the rest of the school."

Vivio and Einhalt just stared at the small girl before them. Whoever she was, Vivio decided, she had quite a history behind her.

She started as Einhalt leaned over gesturing for her to listen. Cupping her hands to her mouth the older girl breathed into her ear: "Maybe she's from one of _those_ country's. The ones that are at war or in turmoil."

Caching her hint Vivio gave a little nod. In front of them Mahail was looking increasingly upset at there whispered conversation. Now that she thought about it though it made a lot of sense. If she was from a war torn county where people did awful things like that then it would explain a lot of what the girl had said. It would also make it rude to delve any deeper, she realized.

"What are you to whispering about!" Mahial hissed at them looking about ready to storm off in outrage.

Einhalt wiped her head away from Vivios ear looking embarrassed.

"Ah, it was nothing Mahail, it' just that... we decided that we would love to show you the school." Vivio made out hastily putting on her best smile.

"Oh..." Einhalt muttered, again looking confused and rather dull at the sudden reversal. She stood there like that for several seconds before suddenly breaking into a smile. "Well okay!" She said suddenly grabbing Vivios hand and starting to walk straight towards the school, pulling Vivio along with her.

Quickly walking along after Mahail who had her hand in a firm grip, Vivio looked back at Einhalt who was following behind closely looking totally knocked of balance by the situation. For the normally quiet, composed friend that Vivio knew it was quite a novelty and would have been very funny were she not so lost herself. _And_ n_o wonder _Vivio thought. Only a few minus ago they had been discussing one of the biggest development in Einhalts deepest personal issue for years. Then all of the sudden they were being lead by the nose to there own school by a completely eccentric little girl who looked about a year younger then her.

The strange little creature who called herself Mahail kept them busy for the better part of an hour. Leading them through the halls of their school she cheerfully demanded that they show her everything. From the classrooms to the gym to the parking lot nothing failed to interest her immensely to the point of standing in the middle of the gym and spinning around in circles, her silly looking dirty green skirt fanning out around her.

As the halls were still full of students getting ready to leave for home when they started they quickly accumulated a small crowd who followed them either to gawk at Mahail and her antics or try to help give the tour that the white hared girl was so intent on getting. The extra attention seemed only to fan the flames of Mahail's enthusiasm and she quickly set about introducing herself to the small crowd of spectators, many who were quickly charmed by her straightforward if juvenile manner.

Flinging herself around with near unbridled energy, Mahail seemed inordinately excited by everything she saw, often reacting with nearly ecstatic pleasure when they took her to see something new and (oddly enough) except for the library and the magic classrooms she seemed to treat each sight as though it were a fantastic novelty.

Though Vivio did not mind and even began to enjoy the bizarre affair as it went on, Mahail laughing and carrying on as she led her down the hall, Einhalt found herself constantly impatient with the newcomer who had burst in on them and who was now keeping her from her anxiously awaited trip to the Saint Church. Although cheerful, Mahail was also undeniably rude. That she would say whatever came to her mind was an understatement. Whatever she felt like, Mahail said, and if it was a rude of even nasty comment about something or somebody then it came bubbling out for her with an ease that shocked the always polite Einhalt and set Vivio on edge from time to time. It was only though extreme discipline and pride for her own composure that Einhalt kept from trying to implicate more clearly that it was time for Mahial to leave.

Mahail took no notice, indeed not paying Einhalt nearly so much attention as she did Vivio often holding her hand as she flounced along giving mundane things like classrooms and lingering students curious, fascinated looks.

Although quiet about herself when they first started Mahail soon began to speak more and more as the atmosphere between them all gradually warmed up. It was not long before she was chattering away about herself animatedly regaling Vivio and Einhalt with what she found cute, what she didn't like, what she thought of anyone she saw cross their path, all her likes and dislikes and anything that seemed to come to her mind.

She liked dogs as well as cats, she hated doctors, she hated formal dresses, she hated snow, she loved water and mountains and fish, she hated older people telling her what to do, all of it coming streaming out of her in sporadic hap-hazardous torrents of random information like water from a rusty tap that has been newly cleaned after years of neglect.

It was nearly an hour and a half afterward that Mahial final wound down resigning to sit on a bench and simply watch the tops of the trees on the campus sway back and forth in the wind.

Most of the other students had left by now and irritated though she was Einhalt had to admit that the three of them siting on the bench together alone in the middle of the schoolyard while the soft wind blew blossoms down from the trees made for an incredibly picturesque scene.

"Ah, this is wonderful!" Mahail cooed in her sweet voice for what must have been the seventh time that day. "The school is so big! And there are so many people! You guys are great, I never thought that being with other people my age would be so fun!"

"I'm glad, Mahail." Vivio said smiling "Eh, what did you mean by all that about other kids? Do you not have many friends?"

"Mmm, no, I've never met another person my age before." She chimed happy.

Einhalt and Vivio made simultaneous "Hirk!" noises as they both suddenly convulsed in their seats. Mahail took no notice continuing to look forward and swing her feet of the edge only looking up in mild confusion when Einhalt spat:"What do you mean you've never met another kid before?"

"Hm? Well you two are the first."

"But, but that's impossible!" Einhalt said, her eyes wide. "What about the other kids who lived near you? What about- well- What about everyone?"

Vivio just stared at Mahail. Although just as flabbergasted as Einhalt, she suddenly felt like there was something that she should remember. It was a prickling in the back of her mind that counteracted the incredulity that was running around in her head. _Wasn't I once the same way?_her subconscious whispered to her. Yes... she had. When she had been found by Erio and Caro, her two dear friends, before she had met Nanoha, then she had been the same. But even then she had know that something was wrong. The girl before her seemed to think nothing of it.

"Did you live alone with your parents before coming here?" Vivio cut in, suspecting the truth but asking as politely as possible.

"My Uncle." Mahail nodded absently.

Vivio and Einhalt relaxed a bit, it was not... so strange if that was the case. The bug summoner Luttecia had lived like that for a while before returning. It was a small world to meet another such person at random though. It would allso go a long way to explaining her ecentricitys that had been such a mystery up till now.

"I see" Einhalt said softening her voice. "Mahail where exactly do you live? If you have never been to a school before or seen another kid, and you just got here then I'm sure that you could get into this one if you wanted."

"Oh well that's not really possible for me right now." she said simply swinging her legs of the edge of the bench.

It was strange, Vivio decided. Though she had spoken about herself quite a bit in the last hour she had never told them any of the basics, like where she was from, or why she was in Mid. It was not the first time that Vivio had asked her where she lived and who her parents were, but she had simply smiled and said nothing each time she did so. This time she had simply ignored the question all together. It was rather rude, and were it not for her suspicion that Mahail was from some place really nasty that she didn't want to talk about she would have pressed the question.

"You know. that if you have magic potential above D rank that you are eligible for St. Hilde." Einhalt provided.

"Hmm? D rank?" Mahail chimed looking confused. "You mean like Servant Ranks?"

"What ranks?" Vivio asked.

Mahail gave a little jolt like she had said something she shouldn't have. "Nothing. What do you mean by D rank?" She said quickly sounding rather embarrassed.

"That's the grading system used for telling how much power a person has." Vivio said simply, also slightly confused. "I thought you could do magic?" Agin it was odd. Vivio could have sworn that Mahail had implied so earlier, but still the albino girl had made no reference to it since.

Mahail seemed to struggle with herself for a little, her face twisting into a conflicted frown, she hoped of the fence and started looking back and forth between Einhalt and Vivio and a area somewhere of in the distance as if trying to determine between the two.

Finaly seeming to reach a conclusion of some sort Mahails face little up into a twisted smile. After looking around once or twice as if to make sure no one else was around she intoned slyly out of the corner of her mouth: "I can do Magic."

"I thought you could." Vivio said smiling at her. Einhalt looked doubfull. "If you can do magic you should know what the ranking system is."

Narrowing her eyes Mahail huffed. "I do to know all about magic! I have more Magical circuits then you could count!"

"Magical whats?" Vivio asked feeling that she was missing something.

"Ha!" Mahail cooed triumphantly. "So! Its you two who don't know much about Magic!"

Einhalt closed her eyes. Inside the flame of anger that had been ignited at their first meating by Mahails ignorance of Olive and that had been smoldering quietly at her rudeness the entire time suddenly ignited again into a small guttering flame.

"Mahail," She said softly. "I don't expect you to know this but me and Vivio are two of the best Mages in this school. We know all about magic and its application, and I think you just made what you said about magic up on the spot."

Mahail went red in the face suddenly and a nasty expression that they had not seen since there first meeting by the fence made its way back onto her face.

"Made it up hu? I see you don't know who your talking to. **I** have more Magic than any person living." She with proudly tossing her hair back.

Einhalt snorted. It was so unlike her that she surprised herself as well as Vivio who was siting next to her but her patience with the arrogant little girl had finally snapped. Whether or not Mahail was new to dealing with people didn't mater anymore. She herself had once thought along those lines, before she had met Nanoha's parents and the Yagami family she had thought that she was the greatest Mage and fighter in Mid Childa. It was a supposition that had come crashing down upon meeting the aforementioned groups and even more so upon her entry into the inter-middle competition where she had been confronted by many fighters her own age who were also stronger than she had ever expected.

Mahails declaration was almost funny.

"I assure you that you're not and saying stuff like that wont get you anywhere." Einhalt started coolly, keeping the irritation out of her voice. "But if you do know a little magic then show me."

Mahail's smile widened and her eyes narrowed at her. "My power doesn't work like that." She said smugly. "I bind things, and direct them, I don't shoot fire like a stupid amateur."

"Einhalt, Mahail. Pleas stop this." Vivio pleaded casting worried look between the two. She could tell that Einhalt was mad and even though it didn't exactly show in her voice she could tell that Mahails comment about being the strongest had hit home. Mahail on the other hand was wearing a strange smug, self confident expression that she could not quite place but certainly was not happy. Both of them were on edge and she could feel that something bad was about to happen.

"Vivio, if she has magic then whats wrong with her showing us some. She should learn not to say such things if she cant back them up." Einhalt replied still fixing her calm gaze on Mahail. "Some common courtesy would not be bad either."

Mahail flushed and then looked around again like she was worried that she would be caught doing something that would get her in trouble. Apparently finding the Schoolyard abandoned enough for her tastes she turned back to Einhalt. "Fine." she said smugly a nasty smile still playing across hr features.

"Mahail!" Vivio pleaded. In truth she _was_ curios to see what the strange white hared girl would do but she felt like it was the improper time. People should demonstrate their magic in class, or in a friendly spar, not like this.

Mahail ignored her. Walking over to the bench next to them she put her finger on its steel frame and closed her eyes.

Standing up to get a better look at what she was about to do, Einhalt watched Mahail carefully reaching out with her mind to feel for her magical energy. There was nothing. Mahail was just standing there with a frown on her face touching the metal with one hand not even gathering magical energy at all. Next to her she could tell that Vivio was also drawing a blank.

Feeling more and more like this was some kind of a joke Einhalt was about to say so when she suddenly did a mental double take.

There _was_ something coming from the white hared girl.

It was a strange, almost metallic feeling stream of energy that was running from Mahail into the bench, it's subtle and alien feel like nothing she had ever felt before. It gave her a creepy feeling in its novelty. And she found herself staring wide eyed at the little girl.

"M-Mahail, what are you doing?" Vivio stuttered out sounding as alarmed as Einhalt felt.

Mahail said nothing for a little still concentrating on whatever she was doing. Suddenly she gave a little "Ha!" and with a satisfied smirk withdrew her finger from the bench.

The steel frame off the bench suddenly liquified, falling out of its rigged mold and splashing out on the ground in a silver gray pool of metal liquid, its wooden seat failing on top of it sending droplets of steel splashing out in a circle.

Vivio gasped a little and then clapped, giving Mahail a little cheer as she did so.

Mahail's smile grew even wider and she turned to Einhalt with a fierce look of superiority.

Einhalt had to admit that she was impressed. Walking over to the puddle she noted that it was not hot in the least but rather actual room temperature steel reduced to liquid, almost like mercury. As a combat focused Mage she did not know as much about such things as some did but even she could tell that what had just been done was impressive. Using Magic to shoot bolts of energy or create fire or such was relatively easy if power intensive. Changing steel to liquid without heating it though? That meant she would have had to have chemically altered the entire bench frame with just magical power. Such a delicate procedure would have been difficult even for a well trained Mage with a device to process their magic into spells.

The bizarre girl had done it in a few seconds without a device to help direct her magic at all. Moreover than that what had she used to do it? Nothing like she had ever felt before.

Einhalt found herself looking at Mahail in a suddenly different light. Whoever she was the girl had incredible control and a magical signature so distinct that she hadn't even detected it as such at first.

Einhalt gave Mahail a nod but kept her thoughts to herself instead turning to a more practical issue that the feat had created. "That was good. But you just destroyed a school bench."

Vivio gave a little "oh" and stopped clapping abruptly looking worried.

"Its just a bench." Mahail snorted looking rueful at Einhalts concern.

"Oh no."Vivio corrected her "Benches are a part of school property, we would get in so much trouble if they found out we destroyed it!"

"Hmph, its only a stupid piece of furniture, I don't have to worry about it."

"Mahail if you want to use magic you have to use it responsibly!" Einhalt declared giving her a sharp look.

Mahail scowled and crossed her arms again looking defensive. "Who says anything about something so boring as a bench?"

"But Mahail" Vivio cried throwing her arms into the air "If everybody just destroyed benches whenever they felt like it then- then there would be nowhere to sit!"

Einhart paused at the rather... simple argument but it seemed to have an affect on Mahail who uncrossed her arms and looked at Vivio like she had just seen something she found incredible and slightly funny.

Not satisfied that Mahail had got the message Einhalt turned to the metalic puddle with a concerned look. "What are we gona do?" Einhalt had always striven to be responsible, a model student. This would be embarrassing to explain. Why they had led a young girl around campus and then edged her on into making a magical display that ended in a melted bench would not look good at all.

Mahail clicked her tongue. Giving the melted bench on the ground a look she stepped back up to it and smiled again, her narrow almost menacing smile that she put on sometimes.

Curious as to what she was about to do Einhalt and Vivio stepped closer watching intently both of them sensing what was going to happen.

Leaning down and putting her finger into the fluid steel Mahail again closed her eyes.

Reaching out trying to feel her Magical energy again Einhalt and Vivio were rewarded when it reappeared. A very faint subtle feeling of power, a little like other peoples magical energy but somehow very different, it gave of very little to detect almost as if the very energy itself was muffled from their minds.

The liquid on the ground began to flow in reverse, where once it had slowly pooled outwards it now quickly rushed back into deeper pools.

Vivio gave out a delighted "Ahha!" and Einhalt felt her mouth open slightly as it began to form back into the shape of a bench frame before their eyes.

In only twenty seconds the previously unrecognizable puddle on the ground was upright again and solid like it had never melted at all, even the wooden seat being put back into place and reattached in the process.

If Einhalt was impressed before now she felt genuine amazement. In order to have done what she just did, Mahail must have saturated the heavy liquid with her Mana, shaped it into the shape she remembered and then realigned all of the molecules chemically to resume its solid form. And she had done it all without a device to make the necessary mathematical calculations for her. Whoever she was, Einhalt decided, she must be a genius to posses such perfect control. With the ability to do something like that she could easy become the best Mage in the school almost regardless of her magical potential.

"That was incredible Mahail!" Vivio gushed "I don't think I've ever seen anyone do something like that without a devise!"

"That was...indeed very good magic." Einhalt made out, embarrassment at her former words starting to form in the pit of her stomach.

"It wasn't even a challenge." Mahail said giving an aloof sniff. "If I wanted to I could... I could...uun.."

"What did you say?" Vivio asked curiously. Mahail had suddenly slowed, her speech slurring mid sentience as a dull look suddenly stole over her.

"Mahail?" Einhalt intoned giving the oddly blank looking girl a concerned look.

Mahail didn't respond instead lowering her head sluggishly, looking down at her belly in apparent discomfort.

"Are you alright?" Vivio asked drawing in closer to her and bending down to look her in the face at her a low angle.

Mahail said nothing he head still looking down at her belly. Suddenly Mahails head jolted up mechanically, staring forward, eyes far away she paused for a moment perfectly still before giving one sharp hiccup that seemed to jolt her entire body.

Then trembling like a leaf the white haired Girl dropped to her knees groaning and clutching her stomach like she was about to throw up.

"Mahail!" Vivio cried running over to her with Einhalt and clasping her shoulder. The white haired girl tried to push her away weakly but her arms had no strength and she was shaking uncontrollably. Mahail began to sob into her own shirt, great gasping things that sounded like she was suffocating.

"Einhalt get a teacher!" Vivio yelled turning to her friend in panic.

Einhalt hesitated only a moment before turning and bolting off towards the office, strengthening her legs with magic as she did so and sprinting out of sight in a heart beat.

Vivio turned back to Mahail who was now gritting her teeth so hard that she could hear them creek and holding her shoulder.

"Mahail whats wrong!" Vivio pleaded, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl.

Mahail gasped again. "M-my bones ache..." She made out though clenched teeth. Tears were beginning to run down her face as she cradled her shoulder with almost desperate intensity.

The two of them stayed there for what seemed like a while. Mahail sat whimpering occasionally, curled up in fetal position while Vivio stayed close to her unsure of what to do except stay there and hope that she recovered from whatever was tormenting her.

Slowly after what seemed to be an eternity to Vivio whatever was causing Mahail pain seemed to subside and her whimpering died down.

"Are you alright?"

Mahail said nothing but started trying to get to her feet, her face contorting in pain again as she did so.

"You shouldn't do that!" Vivio cried as Mahail tried to use her arm as a crutch.

Mahail paid her no heed but started to rise on wobbly feet, shaking back and forth as she attempted to regain her balance.

Standing up herself Vivio helped the struggling girl with her arm, pulling her up and letting her lean on her for support.

"You really shouldn't be doing this." Vivio said, her voice laced with worry. Whatever had just happened it was the worst thing she had seen for a long time and it made her tremble herself, her whole frame shaking with anxiety.

"The teachers will get here soon." Vivio went on trying to sound reassuring. "and then they can get you to the nurse, or the hospital. We could get your parents from there."

Mahail flinched a look of worry breaking her emotionless mask. She turned to Vivio and shook her head, grasping her with surprising energy on the arm.

"I need to go." She made out urgently, her eyes flashing around.

"What! That's crazy!" Vivio exclaimed taken completely of guard by the sudden proclamation. "You just got up of the ground! Your in no position to-"

"I need to go now!" Mahail nearly shouted, pushing Vivio back and stumbling away towards the gym.

"Mahail! Hold on!"

If she heard her Mahail took no notice, her face set in an emotionless mask like expression she continued to slowly make her way towards her mysterious destination refusing to look at Vivio even when she ran alongside her and tried to block her way.

"Mahail." she whined getting desperate. "Pleas stop, what if you get worse?"

"Leave me alone." Mahail replied in a toneless almost robotic voice, still walking away from her. "I need to leave now."

"But-but-"

"Vivio!" A familiar voice rang out. She spun around. Jogging towards them from across the schoolyard was her Mother Nanoha dressed in simple jeans and a white and pink polka doted shirt, with a worried look on her face, following closely was Einhalt.

"Mother!" Vivio called out in surprise. What was she doing here? It suddenly struck Vivio that perhaps they had stayed at school for longer than she had realized and she felt a small twinge of embarrassment of a moment despite her worry.

For a moment it looked like she was about to get a lecture but Nanoha's stern expression quickly dropped as she neared them. "Who is this? Is this the sick girl?" Nanoha said reaching her and looking over at Mahail with curiosity.

At the sound of Nanoha's voice Mahail stopped her stumbling walk for a moment and turned to look at her. As soon as her eyes found Nanoha they hardened almost imperceptibly, her face turning cold rather than simply emotionless.

She started walking away faster her steps becoming less uneven as she did so.

"Mother, this is-ah-this is Mahail." Vivio said trying to face her mother and keep even with Mahail at the same time.

Nanoha looked at Mahail with a concerned but at the same time rather confused expression as the young girl began trying to walk away with even greater speed.

For a split second Nanoha looked indecisive, caught of guard either by the strange report Einhalt must have given her or Mahail's unique appearance or both. It was gone the next moment, Nanoha's face setting into a calm slightly stern expression.

Striding past them both, Nanoha turned and placed herself directly in front of Mahail, baring her way.

The white hared girl paused for a moment, apparently registering that her path of escape was cut off by someone three heads taller than her.

"Mahail." Nanoha addressed her in a kindly voice, trying to catch her eye with her own. "I'm Nanoha. Can you tell me whats wrong? Where are your parents?"

Not looking up into Nanohas face even once she turned and tried to move around her in a wide arch, but was stemmed when Nanoha reached out and gently grabbed her by the shoulders."

"Mah-"

"DONT TOUCH ME!" Mahail shrieked, her voice cutting though the air and causing everyone, Nanoha included to jump. She pulled away from Nanoha with surprising violence and tried to run around her only to trip on the asphalt and land on her hands and knees.

"Mahail!" Vivio exclaimed running over to her, Nanoha looking grim and doing likewise.

"Young lady." Nanoha said sternly, her voice carrying a force that she only used on the rarest of occasions at home. "You are sick, you need to stay calm and trust me, we will get you to the hospital and locate your parents. I understand that you may be feeling frightened right now but you must calm yourself and bear with us. Where are your parents?"

"Are you a Magus?" Mahail said, her voice shaking slightly, still refusing to look Nanoha in the eyes. "Vivio said her Mother was a Magus... and she called you Mother."

"Am I a?- yes I am a Mage" Nanoha said quickly confused by the white hared child's string of reasoning. "But that's not important right now-"

"I thought so." Mahail said her voice shrill as she stood to her feet again. "Leave me alone."

"I cant do that I'm afraid." Nanoha said firmly. "From what I understand your well-being is at stake. You need to come with us to the office. Now. I can have one of the staff carry you if you don't wish me to touch you but one way or the other we have to look after you, at least until your parents get here and see what is wrong."

Mahail looked of to the side and tried again to sidestep Nanoha but she reached out and grabbed her by the arm, firmly this time.

"Look at me dear." Nanoha said again, her hand foiling Mahail's second attempt to throw her off. "I want you to look at me, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Mahail, its alright" Vivio squeaked feeling on the verge of tears, she couldn't fathom why but Mahail had been so sweet before and suddenly she was treating her Mother like an enemy. "My mom would never do anything!"

Mahail turned her head down and looked at the ground gritting her teeth. "Let me go or I'll kill you." She said darkly.

Everyone gave a small gasp and for several long seconds there was a pin drop silence, the simple words freezing the air more effectively than any spell.

"What did you say?" Nanoha finally breathed in disbelief.

Slowly Mahail looked up into Nanohas eyes for the first time, her ruby red eye's meeting Nanoha's blue ones.

"I said, that if you don't let me go I'll have you killed."She chimed slowly. Her voice had changed. It had gone from an upset, shrill whine to a smooth clear bell like ring, somehow awful in it's sickly sweet melody.

Nanoha was suddenly transported back in time to when she had looked Fate in the eye's for the first time. They were red then to and possessing of many of the same quality's. A look of purity bordering on numbness that sent soft chill's up her spine, a chill not of fear but of nostalgia.

Struck though she was at first when she had seen this girls strange complexion it had not then hit her as anything other than an especially exotic nationality. Now, after hearing what she had unmistakably said twice the probable truth of Mahail's situation hit her like a ton of brick's. Whoever this child was she was involved in something. Something strange and quite probably bad. If she was forced to guess then a leftover of project F would be her first but she couldn't be sure and without anything more than a hunch to act on she couldn't do anything about it. Yet.

Vivio was looking at Mahail like she had never seen her before. A moment ago she had felt almost like crying but now the feeling was replaced by shock. Her... she didn't want to say friend but maybe under different circumstances... Mahail had been so sweet, true she had seemed a little off from the beginning but not...like…this...

Nanoha met Mahails gaze unwaveringly with her own. "Do you know what that means little one?"

Mahail smiled, a slight serene curve of her lips at the question. "Why don't you keep your hand on me and find out?"

"You don't need to show anyone anything" Nanoha said soothingly. "I promise you that whatever you are going though-"

Mahail didn't let her finish, her red eyes flashed and throwing her head back she began to scream at the top of her lungs "BESER-!"

"Mahail!"A voice rang out causing the white hared girl to cut off her scream immediately and turn towards it.

Nanoha looked up and couldn't hold back a slight flinch of surprise at the sight that greeted her. Walking towards them quickly were two women dressed in white maid-like outfits their skin and eyes the exact same hue as the little girl before her.

Nanoha let go as Mahail puled away from her grip again, the little girl running to the two white clad women who received her quickly with an air of urgency. Instead of running into their arms as Nanoha had half expected her to, Mahail turned on her heels and faced her again as soon as she neared the strange duo.

Immediately one of them wearing a black blouse under her white outfit placed herself in front of Mahail in a shield like position giving them a cold look and partially blocking her from their view.

"Mistress are you hurt?" The other said leaning down to look at her more carefully. Reluctantly Mahail turned towards her tearing her eyes of Nanoha and the others she began to whisper into the woman's ear.

"Who are you?" The first woman demanded still facing them with a hostile expression. "And what were you doing with Mahail?"

Nanoha narrowed her eyes at the woman in front of her. Was it possible that their whole family was simply albino? Maybe but more than that there was something afoot. Whoever she was and whatever was going on it was not good, and the more she saw of it the more it reminded her of what she had seen so long ago in her friend.

"I am Nanoha." She said civilly, giving the woman in white a nod. " I meant no harm, your daughter is very sick and needs to be seen to at a hospital."

"Please!" Vivio broke out, making Nanoha turn to her daughter in surprise.

Vivio was looking at Mahail with an almost horrified expression staining her features, her eyes wide and watery looking.

"We only wanted to help." She made out in a small cranked voice. Trying to hold back tears Vivio struggled for words, straining against the lump that had formed in her throat. "She just collapsed and... we didn't know what to do... please don't take it wrong!"

From behind the back of her strange wards Mahail looked at Vivio with an expression something like surprise. In front of her however the face of the white haired woman was unmoved.

"Your concern over our mistress is irrelevant." She said simply. "We shall attend to her health, good day."

"Wait!" Vivio cried, running forward towards the trio as if to trow herself around Mahail.

"Vivio!" Nanoha snapped as the strange pail woman suddenly took something almost resembling a combat stance.

Her mothers warning combined with the sudden movement of the stranger in front of her made Vivio stop in her tracks and look around.

In front of her the red eyed lady had moved one step backwards into what Vivio recognized as something like a combat ready stance. Behind her her mother and Einhalt had made similar moves, the combat ready stance of the Strike Arts and the more open general battle position that Nanoha favored having both been assumed.

"W-What?" She stammered looking back and forth between the to groups. What was going on?

"Vivio." Nanoha started, her voice carrying an edge of warning. "Come back now please."

Vivio stood there paralyzed half way between the two groups. Taking a few steps back she slowly made her way back to her mother's side still looking at Mahail with a torn expression.

Nanoha quietly stepped forward slightly putting herself in front of Vivio mirroring the action of the red eyed women a few moments earlier.

"I don't know, what is going on" Nanoha said finally slipping back into casual footing. "Or who you people are, but I assure you that we mean you no harm, your child is sick and I know the way to the nearest hospital, it would put me at ease if you came with us and we could clear up this simple misunderstanding."

"There has been no misunderstanding." The pail woman said unwaveringly her expression and tone completely flat. " Her health is our concern, we will take her to a hospital soon. Goodby."

Saying so she turned and started walking away, the other woman doing the same and half herding half pulling Mahail along with her, the small girl now casting what looked like uncomfortable looks back at Vivio.

Nanoha watched them go, her expression stony. Had the situation been even a slightly more clear cut it she didn't think that she could have resisted taking the three of them in by force. That wouldn't be the last they saw of them she thought to herself, unfortunately she couldn't just have someone arrested without clear evidence. It didn't mean that she couldn't have them investigated though.

"Come on Vivio, Einhalt." She said softly watching the three go. "Lets go home, I will want to know _exactly_ what happened."

The three of them turned and started walking away, Vivio doing so reluctantly, casting several glances over her back at the departing women as she went. Nanoha watched her daughter carefully as she did so, whatever had happened had definitely made an impression on her.

Walking away from the scene of the encounter all three of them were surprised when the voice of Mahail suddenly called out "Vivio!"

Turning around yet again Vivio greeted by the sight of Mahail running towards them, her two guardians looking on with what could only be sour expressions.

Running up to them but stopping a few feet short Mahail beckoned for her to come close.

Vivio looked up at her Mother who gave an encouraging nod in return. Noding back Vivio walked out to Mahail who was standing there, now with a almost mischievous grin on her face.

"Yes?" Vivio made out timidly once she had come close.

Mahail leaned in even closer and whispered into her ear: "I like you Vivio. I want to say that if I were you I wouldn't go out at night." Pulling away and flashing her another grin Mahail turned and speed away, running back to her two maids and then following them again as the stiffly made there way out of the schoolyard.

"What did she say?" Einhalt asked once Vivo had walked back to them. Looking rather sad and muddled.

"She told me not to go out at night." Vivio said gloomily as they started there way back to the parking lot. "I don't get it." She said half angry half sad. "I just don't get it! What did we do?"

"We didn't do anything love." Nanoha answered in a calm voice looking straight ahead. "Some people just don't like others interfering in what they see as their problem."

"Well that's a rotten thing to think!" Vivio spat venomously giving the pavement a glare.

"Yes, I'm afraid that it causes many people much unnecessary grief." Nanoha replied.

Inside Nanoha was deep in thought contemplating the strange encounter as they walked along together. Don't go out at night. That was what the albino girl had told her daughter, and if she was sure that the young girl who called herself Mahail was involved in something bad before then, that warning was the last nail in the coffin of Mahail possible innocence. The girl was obviously poisoned against strange Mages, and if what Einhalt had told her when she came running, out of breath, looking for a teacher was true then the young girl was a Mage herself. A powerful one, and as much as she hate making assumptions, in all probability not natural. It was like Fate-Chan all over again, but this time happening against the background of some of the most gruesome murders the city had ever seen.

They took the car back home, the three of them quietly going over exactly what had happened all the way back. A few minutes later, when they got home Vivio and Fate had forgotten completely about going to the Saints Church.

*Scene *

Shario's shoes clicked as she walked down the hallway of the Enforcer headquarters that were serving as the temporary base of the Incident investigation. Definitely temporary, as today they were to be leaving.

It had finally happened. Some one on the criminal end of the conflict had gone and attacked a TSAB related facility and now the higher ups were worried about more than a panic. Already on the edge of the act of reestablishing Riot Force 6 the TSAB high command had gone and done it as soon as the word of the attack got to them. Shario had always felt that it would since the beginning and now, true to her expectations the incident had escalated from a matter of public security to one of national security. What they had been waiting for before this was the only real question that Shario really had.

Stepping up to the door of Hayates office the long brown haired woman knocked three times deliberately. Hayate was an old friend and normally she would have simply stuck her head in the door but this was difrent. It felt like something very important was starting. Something that demanded the observance of proper protocol in at least this.

"Come in." Came a muffled answer.

Shario opened the door and stood at attention. Hayate was siting at her desk shuffling through papers with what looked like a biscuit held in between her teeth as she did so.

"Lieutenant Hayate." She said saluting her friend.

"Shario?" Hayate started griping her biscuit with one hand and taking what looked like a long overdue bite out of it. "What is it." she asked, evidently curious at her unusual display of formality.

Any other day Shario might have laughed or smiled at her commanders antics. Not today though.

"Lieutenant, as of last night there has been a direct terrorist attack on a government building. We're being moved from here back to the old Riot force 6 headquarters immediately. We are to be out of here in two hours."

Hayate looked caught of guard for a moment before nodding and setting her biscuit down. "I see, what happened?"

" At about 10 O'clock last night an unknown agent infiltrated the Blue Mesa Research Facility. They snuck past the security and then forced a staff member at knife point to give them access to the computer's files. The assailant then killed the staff member and the security guards that came to apprehend him. He escaped shortly after, we're not sure how."

"Understood" Hayate said after a little pause. "I will be ready to go in twenty minutes."

Nodding Shario turned and walked out, heading back to her own desk.

So far the investigation had been unsuccessful, even detailed scans from orbital ships revealing nothing. Of course pinpointing rogue Mages in a city full of more Mages than possibly any other planet in existence was a very tricky process but with a good team of trackers it was possible, simply scan the planet and then match all registered Mages locations with the signatures that showed up. Nothing had shown up, a few bits of distortion here and there being the only abnormality's and in a city with that much magic such things were to be expected.

As things were it was good that the High Command had decided to put the old team back together minus only a few old members, more than that they were to be supported by an simply enormous range of Enforcers, the elite Mage counter terrorists that made up the most esteemed branch of law enforcement. They were out in force now. Or were soon to be so at least.

Ariving at her desk Shario began to shift through her papers and datapads that were on her desk, putting them one after another into her binder that she was taking with her.

Working quickly Shario was suddenly aware of the sound of footsteps coming towards her. Looking up she recognized one of the buildings staff, a short man in a blue uniform coming towards her with a letter in his hands.

"Mis. Shario Finieno?"

"Yes?"

"There a letter here for you, we have had it screened already."

"A letter?" She said raising her eyebrows. Although she enjoyed them herself the sad fact was that letter were rarely used anymore in Mid Childa. Having been replaced by telecams the old art was now reserved mainly for very formal orders or matters of personal concern.

"Yes mam."

"Thank you" she said taking it, the fact that they were now checking her mail making her unsure of weather to be relived or even more concerned.

Turning the letter over in her hands she looked at the envelope, it was a plain thing addressed to her with a simple stamp and a return address that she didn't recognize.

Opening it with a simple tear she pulled out the letter and was surprised to see a hand written note on simple unmarked paper, a beautiful flowing almost calligraphic script inked out over it.

_Dear Shario, _

_Fondest and sincere greetings from your dearest relation. I hear that you have been tasked with discovering the whereabouts of the enemy. I am very happy for you receiving this honor though I wish fervrently for your safety and look forward to our near reunion with trepidation. I wish you the best of luck in you task and pray to the gods that you may be granted success in this endeavor. I will be waiting for you by the park of the name St Chauntcure, pleas come soon as I cannot bear to suffer your absence for long. I trust that you will treat this matter with due urgency and discretion and come soon lest my patience wavers._

_Sincere regards,_

_Your beloved Sister. _

Shario read the letter through twice with puzzlement. Try as she might she couldn't make heads or tails of it. She had no Sister and whats more knew no one who wrote like that in the slightest. Come to think about it was even a little suspic...

Shario's eyes widened for a briefs moment and then she relaxed.

What had see been thinking? Oh. Right. Her Sister.

Smiling and propping the letter up on her desk Shroi got back to work packing. To think of all the unexpected turns that the last few days had brought made her almost snort. She hadn't seen her sister in ages and now she starts writing her in the middle of an incident? What a strange sequence of events.

Anyhow she thought, if she was going to meet up with her it she would have to secure a very specific time. It wouldn't be easy with the move going on and all but something inside her warned her that if she didn't do it soon then something in the reunion would be lost. It would have to be today of course, right after work.

Humming cheerfully Shario finished putting her papers and office resources into her bag and stood up glancing around. Everything was stowed away. Time to make the move. She couldn't help but feel that the next few days or even weeks were going to be just like the old days of the Jail incident though weather that was good or bad she could not decide.

Shario walked out of the room still humming to herself, unaware of the hair thin Prana wire that had attached itself to her and was now running from the base of her head to the letter and from the letter out the building far away into the distance.

*Scene *

Night had again fallen across the city of Crannagan, and while Hayate and her entourage of staff and investigators had moved that day to the old Riot force headquarters and were even now reveling in the feeling of nostalgia as the organized the forces that were to purge the city of the terrorist threat, not all of the intended members had yet gathered.

Well as Hayate knew her job the city could not afford to go undefended while she settled into her new more worthy command center. So it was that across the city in a small police station crowded with Enforcers between patrols, Fate Harlown was leaning on a table speaking into a telcam with operatives directly from the TSAB Headquartes itself.

Unlike the city of Crranagan the gargantuan space station that hung in the space between the dimensions was always awake and near. Possessing no real location in the world itself the vast interdimesinonal monument was technically everywhere and nowhere as far as space went and had the unique capacity to immediately address almost any problem that presented itself within the TSAB governed worlds. Even day and night cycles were meaningless on board, the vast legion of personnel that served aboard taking shifts to sleep ensuring that the central clog in the mechanism of the TSAB never slowed down to rest. It was an advantage that not even the Ancient Belkans had possessed and the cornerstone of the organizations success.

And it was from here that the orbital scans of the city of Crannagan had been examined for the past few days.

"So." Fate started, talking to the face on the other end of the telecam. "You are saying that one of your investigators has found something in the citywide scans?" I thought that you said only earlier that you had found nothing."

"While its true that the scans revealed no Mages, one of our members believes that he has found a pattern in some of the anomalies that we have detected."

Fate felt her spirits drop a little at the admittance.

"Is that all?" She asked keeping the exasperation out of her voice. "We don't have the time to rely on guess work down here. In a city this big anomalies are to be expected."

"This is an exceptional pattern." the man said patently. "And aside from that if what I hear about the incident is true you don't exactly have the luxury of picking and choosing leads."

Fate shook her head."Alright put him on, let see what this is."

There was a brief scramble on the other end, the older subdued gentleman apparently intending on getting out of his chair slowly while somebody else was hellbent to dive into it at the same time.

The result was the chair in front of the Telecam nearly being knocked over as the two collided. Fate couldn't suppress a slight grimace as the older officer gave an yelp of pain from the collision.

There was some swearing on the other end before the face of another man appeared on the telecam, a younger nervous looking man in glasses clutching an datapad.

"Hello. Dervinl Jilius, assistant analyst." He said quickly "I was looking at some of the anomalies in the scans earlier and, well I think I found a pattern."

The young analysis pulled out his data pad and started pushing buttons vigorously while he talked. "Now I knew that all the major anomalies had been looked into so I decided to look into the smaller ones instead."

"All the anomaly's from the scan big and small were looked into thoroughly." Fate stated simply.

"Well, ah... you would call them small, but what I mean by smaller anomalies is anything under 15 Lickts."

"Lickts" Fate said slowly not exactly sure what he was talking about. Dimly in the back of her mind something she had once heard in one lecture or another from a Midian university she had attended struck a cord.

"Wait. You mean the smallest unit of magical energy?"

"Second smallest actually, but yes."

"So in other words you're talking about tiny modulations in static." Fate said feeling her patience taking a sudden plunge.

"Well yes, its true that what I have been working with are not even anomalies, more like particularly big... swells in the scans background noise."

"Background static is filtered out for a reason." Fate started, her voice sharper than usual with annoyance. "Most of it has nothing to do with Magic or anything relevant. Please, I am in the middle of an investigation, if this is something stupid I strongly suggest that you don't continue."

The man swallowed slightly. "I assure you this is worth your attention."

Fate gave him a nod not quite reassured. In situations like this it was quite common for people to start grasping at straws, and when that happened things could get out of hand.

"Its a simple pattern really." The man said quickly. "A few nights ago when the criminals were engaged by the ground forces, we took a scan of the area. Later when I sifted though the scans I noticed two particularly large modulations that seemed to conform generally to the area that the two criminals were operating in. This occurred again in almost the same way last night when the Blue Messa research facility was assaulted."

Fate nodded again, her exasperation replaced with interest. It was by no means anything conclusive but still, it would be a strange coincidence. If she remembered correctly magical static was never really uniform and three occurrences of large blips conforming to crucial locations was... not to be completely ignored.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." She said, the impatience gone from her voice. "I will make sure that we have agents keep an eye out for more of this and notify me if it occurs again."

"Captain Harlown, that is not all." He said urgently. "You see, there's a modulation present right now, its ah, its identical to one of the modulations that was present at the warehouse engagement."

Fate paused. "Where is this modulation now?"

Twenty seconds later Fate Harlown was marching down the halls of the police office flanked by two Enforces.

After quickly telling the officer in charge at the station her destination and to hold units by for back up in the area if necessary, the three public servants made their way quickly out to front doors into the night.

"Bardiche" Fate called as she took off into the air.

"Yes Sir" it responded, the pole arm like devise quickly assembled itself, the triangular pendant dividing into all the pieces that made up its staff form and fitting together with perfectly mid air. Fates outfit disappeared being swiftly stored away by her device as her Barrier Jacket materialized itself, her black shirt, stockings and armored gauntlet and boots all piecing themselves together in an instant, finishing lastly with her white cape that billowed out behind her as she climbed nearly straight up at incredible speeds.

From her perspective it had taken a measurable amount of time, but in reality it had happened in a flash of light to fast for the human eye to follow.

Reining in her assent so that the two enforcers behind her could keep up Fate quickly opened a small telecam and checked her position. The strange not-signature that the analyst had uncovered was close by flight standards and if it _was_ the criminal's then they could be apprehended in time if she hurried.

Moving faster than a transport helicopter could have Fate and the Enforcers soared above the maze of skyscrapers that was the city, the police station already only a small point of light behind them.

Though the lights of Crannagan meant that there were never many stars visible in the sky it was never the less an impressive sight, the lights of the city making it look like the stars had come to rest on the earth instead. It looked calm.

It only served to set Fate on edge more. She gave another small burst of speed causing the enforcers behind her to strain to keep up.

At the speeds that she was traveling it was not a long flight to the area that the signature had last been in. Unfortunately as it was nothing more than a bump static that would not appear normally on scanners there was no way to recheck to see if the criminals were still here. _If_ the pattern wasn't just a fluke and the criminals hadn't been there in the first place that was.

Fate hovered over the area that the modulation had been in. She found herself peering down into a labyrinth of alleys. _Like the place the man with the slit throat was found in _she thought to herself.

Behind her the two Enforcers who had been lagging behind slightly caught up.

"Captain, is this the place?"

"Yes."

"Beginning scan. _Wide area Search!_" The spell rippled out from the Enforcer, his own cloak billowing out a little under his feet as his did so. For a moment the mans eyes closed in concentration.

Then they popped open again, scrunching in something like confusion. "Captain, there is... something in the alleys below us but it... doesn't feel like any magic that I recognize."

Fate gazed grimly into the darkness below her. S it was true, their criminals, the ones who had been murdering civilians and abducting children were down there in the dark. Her hands clenched.

"Signal for light backup and then cut around. You follow me." Fate said to the two Enforcers respectively, turning on her head and starting a sharp decent to the ground. The buildings rushed up towards her the street becoming visible and then close before she pulled out feet from the ground to settle on the pavement, the Enfforcer that had come with her half a second behind.

They were in a rather dark alley, the kind that are universal to all city's no matter how well developed. Striding forward Fate walked quickly towards the place the Enfforcer had pointed to.

She let out a sensor ping with Bardiche and was rewarded with a signal of some sort, strange and faint like the Enforcer and Subaru had reported.

Fate griped Bardiche firmly. They were close and while it was probable that they would be no challenge if it was the same strange criminal that Subaru had engaged then she could be in for a fight.

Even then though, Fate was faster than the blue Mage in the video had been, and if need be she was sure she could beat him down with some effort.

They walked on for a little but the alley that the signal came from was quite deserted.

"Captain I don't think..." The Enforcer started but trailed off looking up at the wall of the building to their left.

Fate followed the mans gaze up the wall her eyes narrowing in confusion as she pinpointed what he was looking at.

There was something... dark... clinging to the wall above them. It was oddly misshapen, curled into an almost ball like shape with something long and purple hanging down from it. It was twitching weirdly as it hung there and making strange slurping noises.

For a moment Fate fate just looked at it with genuinely no idea what she was even looking at. It was to thick to a person and the wrong proportion for an animal of any sort never mind why it was sticking to the wall like a fly. Fate narrowed her eyes at it even more trying to pick out individual elements in the bizarre thing, she supposed that the long hanging stuff could be hair of some kind... as to why it was shaking like it was...

Fate looked a little more and then let out a gasp of horror. All at once what she was looking at struck her like a lightning bolt of repulsive clarity.

The thing on the wall shifted slightly at the sound of her gasp, its new position only confirming beyond a shadow of a doubt what she was seeing.

It was two people, a woman in a skin tight, short cut black dress with long purple hair hanging was upside down from the wall, clutching a younger woman in one arm and biting into her neck like a vampire as they hung there together, the victim occasionally shuddering and twitching as the purple haired thing held her wrong way up.

Next to her the Enforcer let out a choked cry as he to caught on to what they were looking at.

The woman on the wall stopped, apparently becoming aware of there presence she turned her head away from her victim to face them, reveling a purple blindfold and a round white face. Her mouth was stained with blood.

Looking back at them for a second or so the menacing woman dropped her victim, the girl falling lifelessly ten feet, Fate almost to shocked to catch her in time.

Catch her she did though, her combat instincts prevailing over her shock she threw herself forward and grabbed the falling woman at the last minute.

The spider like woman on the wall jumped down into the alley with them landing on all fours a few meters away.

Not wanting to take her eyes off of the viscous thing that was now looking at them curiously, Fate glanced at the unfortunate girl quickly. Her skin was pail and strangely waxy looking, her neck bleeding freely from two needle like punctures and her eyes rolled back in her head as her mouth gaped open making choking sounds.

Setting the victim down as gently as she could Fate wiped around facing the long haired Mage. Bardiche transformed into Harken form, the large yellow energy blade making a 'swoosh' noise illuminating the alley as it came out.

It was the suspect from the engagement outside the warehouse, her tall statuesque form, long floor length hair and above all her blindfold identifying her beyond a shadow of a doubt. Even in a time like this the woman's beauty was remarkable, but it was horrible as well, her outward perfection only highlighting the wrongness of what she had just done.

"This is the TSAB! You are under arrest for attempted murder! Drop any weapons you are carrying." Fate yelled, mentally readying her spells. Whoever, whatever the woman in front of her was she was, she was a criminal, and most likely a sociopath of the worst sort. Deep down she already knew there would be no negotiation.

The woman stood up slowly, her impossibly long perfect purple hair flowing around her like a shroud. She looked at Fate with an air of indifference wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand.

"And who are you, Magus?" She said a slight irritating smile playing along her lips for a moment. "Some kind of official?"

Fate started at the woman's even voice. She had been half expecting a snarl. It only disturbed her more though. If the black clad woman had been some kind of gibbering nutcase then at least that would have made more sense.

"Last warning" She said "If you do not resist you will be given a chance to plead in your own defense."

The vampiric woman made no response except to shift her feet a little.

"PLASMA LANCER!" Fate yelled, thrusting Bardiche outwards.

Instantly a dozen rings of yellow light sprung up around her, larger spearheads of magical energy forming inside them and then blasting there their way towards her target.

Rider jumped up and away dodging the bolts and landing on the wall above her in the same move. Unlike before the she stood on the wall upright, her feet sticking to the side like it was level ground.

Narrowing her eyes at her opponents strange ability Fate decided against turning the lances to follow her and instead flew up after the criminal in a flash-like step, bringing Bardiche up in a forward strike to impale her foe.

Behind her mask Rider's eyes flew open in shock as her opponent literally_ flew _through the air at her fast as lightning bringing up her strange glowing weapon to bisect her.

Surprise at the unexpected move and its great speed almost spelled Riders loss as the shining yellow brand cut through the air scoring her across the side as she dived to avoid it.

Hissing her pain the Rider jumped to the opposite wall and turned to regard her opponent visibly flustered. Whoever the Magus was she was fast. To fast to toy with, and she was **flying**_._

Fate turned around facing the strange lunatic criminal once again. Though she could not see her eyes she could tell that she was alarmed.

Good, if she was afraid of her and already wounded then this fight would go quickly.

Bringing her weapon around again she made another dive towards the Mage only for her target to suddenly take off, disappearing in a blinding flash of speed just as a bolt from the enforcer below them struck the place she had been standing.

Fate blinked in surprise at the sudden acceleration, her eye only taking in her enemy's movements due to long practice of moving at such speeds herself. It was incredible, the woman running up the wall at speeds that she could only have attained by flying, her huge head of hair flowing out behind her like a dark river as she moved. Fate had never seen anyone run that fast. Fly? Yes, but run? Only Erio and then only for short bursts before slowing again.

Pausing only for a split second at the revelation of her opponents ability Fate took of after her flying as fast as she could to match her swift quarry, becoming a black blur as she did so.

Rider looked down at the Magus from her higher position silently flabbergasted at the speed the simple human Magus below her was moving. Turning sharply she stopped her assent and summoned her chain and dagger into her hands, throwing them down at Fate as she came up, the iron nail moving with all the force of an artillery round at the one below her.

Fate's eye's widened briefly again at the sudden appearance of a weapon in her foes hands. Then with a skill she had picked up from countless battles with Signum she was moving around it taking the speeding chain dagger with a calm adjustment to her path.

Closing with the purple haired woman Fate slashed out again with her weapon, Bardiche cutting a gash in the building as the chain wielding woman jumped away and started running with unbelievable quickness along the sides of the walls, moving so fast that were it not for her trained eye she would have lost her.

Fate followed her movement throwing several more strikes at her and dipping and diving to dodging the chains that were thrown out in return. While too occupied with the fight to contemplate much else Fate still had to admit that the Mage was incredible. Her speed was on par with hers, faster even than Signum. To an outside spectator the fight must have looked like two half visible blurs flying at each other. If she was doing this blind as her headgear suggested then Fate shuddered to think how she would have fought with the half mask off.

Dancing around her in a circle as she jumped from one wall to the other and back again Rider lashed out with her nails trying to skewer the upstart human. The wound that the Magus had inflicted on her side was still stinging and had it been a physical blade rather than what seemed like a continuous spell that was subject to her Magic resistance then she would not be fighting as well as she was now.

The Magus however was having none of it, flashing back and forth in the air with agility that mirrored her own she evaded or blocked all of her strikes while launching a blitz-like offense of her own that nearly drove Rider back.

She bit back a hiss of anger as the glowing blade of her enemy lashed out towards her face. High places were usually her point of strength but the confined space sandwiched between the two skyscrapers was keeping her from shaking off her flying opponent, or maneuvering to her preference.

Twisting in the air to avoid another slash Rider shook her chains irregularly, the lengths of steel hissing like snakes as they moved through the air in twisting spiral patterns.

Swinging out at odd angles the chains closed in on Fate moving more like living things than weapons they reached out and threatened to hem her in and entangle her.

It wasn't enough though. In her many battles against Signum Fate had long ago learned first hand from the old Knight herself how to counter weapons like these, her favorite sparing partner favoring her Sword Laevatein's snake form almost as much as its normal one. These chains didn't even have blades along the edges.

Moving in the manner she knew was appropriate Fate brought herself under the twisting chains and then slashed up at them causing them to fly up over her head, then bringing her scythe back down she closed with her opponent to finish the battle in one strike.

It would have worked had the woman not used that moment to lay a full flying roundhouse kick on her face, her high heel boot flying out faster than the eye could keep up with and hitting her in the left cheek so hard that it rattled her teeth.

Fate cried out in pain as her head snapped back and her whole body spun around in the air like a top from the blow that sent her down a few stories and nearly drop Bardiche.

Standing on the side of the building looking down after the young Magus Rider frowned imperceptibly. She was still alive. And recovering quickly by the looks of it. Rider narrowed her eyes under her blindfold. By all rights that blow should have separated any human's head from their body, there was something out of place going on...

Her train of thought was cut of abruptly by a stick thin beam of red light that suddenly lanced down from above hitting her in the head only to fracture and break into a shower of blueish sparks as her magical resistance negated it.

Turning around she looked up to see another Maugus far above her standing in mid air his staff outstretched in her direction.

Deciding to ignore him Rider looked back down at her recovering enemy only to see that in the time they had taken to fight the first Magus that they had left behind had caught up and was apparently just as capable of flight as the other two.

Stoic as she normally was Rider felt herself fighting the urge to gape. Three Mages and all of them could fly? It was impossible, even during her time flight was a thing that only the gods and a few monsters could accomplish.

She was shaken out of her contemplation by what felt like a current of Prana tying to wrap itself around her. For a moment she thought that chains began to form around her arms and legs, but the next moment it was gone, another splash of bluish sparks signifying that her Magical resistance had defeated whatever sorcery the two Maguses were attempting.

Looking back and forth between the two she nearly missed the shout of "Harken Saber!" from below, a spinning ring of yellow light flying up at her from the scythe of the young lady that she had kicked.

Fate looked up at her opponent in frustration as the purple haired Mage dodged the Harken Saber that she sent her way, the spell instead gouging a big hole in the wall of the building behind her.

To make matters even worse the bind attempt had failed, the magical energy that was meant to subdue the criminal, simply and mysteriously dissipating as soon as it pulled tight.

The Enforcer who had attempted the bind swore and launched a volley of Magical bolts at the woman that she dodged in a step that was hard to follow even with her eyes.

Not only was she enemy able to mach her in speed (a feat that had only ever been done before by a certain cyborg) but she was strong as well. If the kick was any evidence in fact, the woman above her was stronger than she was.

Adding on to that the apparent strength of her barrier jacket Fate suddenly realized that whoever she was even if it seemed like she couldn't fly, the woman above her was beyond a doubt a Mage of her own level.

"Are the reinforcements coming?" she asked the Enforcer.

"Yes mam." He said shooting another volley of Magical bolts. The woman dodged it easily only for the Enforcer, in a impressive display of control to make the bolts double back on her nearly hinting her full on before she sensed it somehow and dived away, a few bolts hitting her and breaking on her strange Barrier Jacket. The Enforcer swore again.

"Bardiche." Fate said griping her scythe tightly.

"Yes Sir?"

"Zamber Form."

"Yes Sir!"

Rider crouched on the wall dodging the bolts and beams that the Magus above her was raining down on her head and trying to judge the best way to draw them all into a place where she could corner them. Aside from the scythe wielding witch, she was sure that she was easily faster than them and that if if she could draw them into the proper location victory would be simple. As for the black clad warrior she was quick but surely not as fast herself and she could pull her apart with her hands if need be, if only she could find the right position.

Rider paused a moment looking down, her train of thought interrupted by a new development.

Below her the black clad Magus's staff was doing something strange. It it seemed to be shifting and moving of its own accord.

Rider watched with growing apprehension as,with a clinking noise the scythe shaped staff in the young woman's hand reformed, the head splinting into a three pronged end that pointed straight outwards, the handle folding in on itself becoming shorter.

With a noise like crackling electricity the three pronged end suddenly sprouted a _huge_ shining blade of pure energy the size of a child.

Rider froze looking at the gigantic war blade that the witch had materialized. It was bigger than any blade she had ever seen save only the massive stone thing that the Beserker Servant from the church had held. Were it normal she would have thought that only a giant of a man could have wielded such a weapon but the young Magus brought it effortlessly up into an offensive stance as if it weighed as much as the air itself.

With a grim but fierce gleam in her eye the woman below her suddenly rocketed forward at her the over large sword held aloft to cut her apart at the waist.

For a split second Rider froze staring at the human woman who was charging her with a blade the length of a stone column at speeds akin to a Lancer Servant.

The next she turned and fled, retreating shamelessly into the opening that the Maguses spells had torn in the buildings side earlier. There was no way that she would be taking THAT head on, not there at least.

Fate slowed her charge when her opponent disappeared from sight, coming even with the crater in the side of the building and peering in intently. There was no sign of the long haired Mage.

Stepping lightly into the gutted building Fate held Bardiche out in front of her cautiously as she walked forward into what looked like a partly demolished office building.

A snakelike hissing that seemed to come from everywhere filled the room as Fate walked on, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

_Never follow a snake into its lair _a voice in the back of her head whispered. She brushed it off, she had followed more dangerous prey into their lairs before.

Stepping over an upside-down desk Fate looked around the room trying to catch a glimpse of the black haired woman.

"Captain." one of the enforcer's yelled from outside.

"Stay where you are!" Fate yelled back still scanning the room for movement. Whoever her foe was she was more than a match in close range for the two Enforcers outside. "Make sure she doesn't escape the building, and then follow me in when reinforcements arrive!

Taking a few steppes deeper into the room Fate grew more and more nervous as she went on. She knew by the hissing noise of her opponents chains that she was near but the sound gave her no other reference seeming to come from no direction at all.

Still holding Bardiche out in front of her Fate sent out a small ping of magical energy in all directions feeling for the Mages pretense with her mind. She was rewarded by the feeling of strange energy that the mage put off coming from almost directly above her of all places. Experiencing a small flash of alarm Fate looked up quickly. Her foe was not as she had dreaded, clinging to the ceiling like a spider about to drop on her but as it seemed in fact on the floor above her. How she had accomplished this without making any noise was Fates guess but at the moment it did not really matter.

Stabbing straight up, Fate drove her massive power sword into the ceiling and flew into it bursting into the story above her with a crack of splintering plaster and bending steel. Looking around for a target she was surprised when none appeared, the Mage having vanished once more as she tore through the obstacle separating them. Considering how long that had taken her Fate could not help but again marvel at her opponents speed. Sending out another ping Fate located the Mages presence once again and flew towards it smashing through the cubicle's that were in her way.

It was like a deadly game of Marko Polo, while Fate could not feel the black Mage most of the time she found herself relying on short pulses of magical energy that gave her a rough scene of where her enemy was.

She was a phenomenal searcher, her speed and sharp senses honed over years of Magical battle, real and simulated giving her a unshakable relentlessness that combined with her split second reaction time's to make a Enforcer that would never be taken of guard or thrown of the trail.

So it was that when the strange Mage she was hunting suddenly burst out at her in a move of blinding speed from the complete opposite direction that she had estimated and drove a foot long iron spike into her back Fate was a little surprised.

Giving a small scream at the pain that shot up her spine threatening to paralysis her Fate fell forward onto her chest, the massive kinetic force that accompanied the blow taking her of her feet and almost driving the air from her lungs. The blow had struck against her Barrier jacket with the force of an artillery round, tearing the cloth under it and savagely traumatizing her body with the leftover unabsorbed impact.

"Sir!" Bardiche rang out in alarm as Fate instinctively tried to get to rise. With only the shouted warning of her device to go by, Fate forced herself to ignore the pain and threw herself sideways as fast as she could propping her device as she did so. Her inherent flight making gravity a none issue Fate spun away off the floor just as her opponents heel slammed down on where her head had been a moment earlier making a crater in the floor.

Hitting the wall of the room Fate recovered as fast as she could and turned to face the deadly woman, her hands empty. The statuesque killer was already heading for her, moving in a purple blur with her Spiked Chain thrust out to penetrate her skull. Time seemed to slow down for Fate, each little aspect of the woman who was quite possibly about to kill her engraved into her eye. This could be the end she realized, the blow from before had not penetrated her barrier jacket but such a powerful hit could not be ignored by any armor, magic or otherwise and she knew in her gut that her's had probably lost 40% or so of its strength. Meaning that the next one would reduce it to almost nothing.

Not thinking and simply reacting Fate launched herself forward as well the two speed specialist flying at each other like two bullet's fired from opposite ends of some battlefield.

Her death did not come, Fate sliding smoothly underneath the blow intended to end her life and twisting to grab the hilt of Bardiche as she reached it.

Gasping for air Fate brought Bardiche up once more facing her foe who was standing still for once looking at her with a unreadable expression on her Blindfolded face. It seemed her opponent was even stronger than she had thought, in the space of time between her magical pulses she had apparently moved in a circle around her and struck from behind in a maneuver that Fate would not have thought possible had it not just nearly felled her.

The strange Mage was quite possibly even faster than her in this mode. It was an idea she was uncomfortable with. Since the day Fate had first wielded Bardiche speed had always been her focus and it was a focus she had mastered. The number of people she had met who could keep up with her she could have almost counted on her fingers.

Slowly Rider lowered her chains looking across at the Maugus in the outfit that so nearly mirrored her own. The ladies speed was phenomenal, on the level of a Servant in fact, not even the Lancer had moved quite like she did. It was an impossibility that unnerved her more than she would ever let on, In the end Humans simple could not be this fast. And yet she was.

Still, it was not enough. Though nearly her match the edge was still hers, and while the warrior before her was actually faster than the Lancer himself it seemed that she did not have the Blue warriors vitality. Even defended as she was by some sorcery of protection, the would she had given her from behind was clearly taking a toll on the golden haired woman. In a few more minutes at most the fight would be hers.

She would not devour the golden haired warrior she decided, though her master had commanded her to procure her own Mana whenever possible it was only fitting that she leave the body of this foe unmolested. Foolish as she had been to follow her into the building alone it had been a brave move, and her limited sense of honor quietly entertained a sense of respect for the soon to be dead woman.

Fate watched tensely as the Purple haired woman slowly gave her a measured nod. "You fight well for a Magus. Your speed is... commendable to keep with me so for this long."

Fate gave a small nod in return. "I could say the same for you. But such skills should not be used for preying on people! You are disturbed, please lay down you arms and come with me, whatever problems you are suffering from can be treated by a psychiatrist." She stated darkly. If the Mage before her was an opponent not quite like any other she had fought then she was also probably worse than anyone she had ever fought. With the image of the attacked girl still fresh in her mind Fate didn't think she could forgive the lunatic before her. "I will repeat my offer, surrender now or face full penalty of law for you crimes."

Rider broke out into another one of her small smiles. The Mage before her was amusing in ways, and while not young enough to be called a girl she was surprisingly young for a Maugus and a warrior of her skill.

"You are spouting nonsense girl." Rider said silkily an ounce of amusement making its way into her voice as well. " But your sediments are admirable so allow me to introduce myself before you die." Making another slight nod that made her hair shift in a way almost suggesting a curtsy Rider leaned forward slightly. "I am Servant Rider, of the Crusades Servants I am the swiftest." She announced boldly bringing her dagger up ready to throw.

"Servant's? Rider? Is that an alias?" Fate intoned as she readied herself, bringing her sword back into guard position holding it perpendicularly in front of her. "Who are you people?" She demanded in an accusing voice. "I know that there is at least one more Mage like you, but you are enemy's aren't you? We caught you fighting each other a few days ago."

"Oh?" The woman who called herself Rider laughed. "It seems like you are in the dark. If that is true then there is no need to enlighten you."

With all the speed of coiled snake Rider threw her nail at Fates knee. It was a move faster than any normal human eyes could have followed and a low blow but Fate parried it, her enhanced body and practiced eye following the nail's rocket like trajectory with only moderate difficulty.

The two flew together again both dogging the others strike and resuming their deadly dance around the office building that was finding itself quickly being demolished by the two fighters. Desks were cut in half, expensive looking equipment demolished, walls knocked in, huge gouges cut in the floor and ceiling and clouds of paper thrown flying around the room in a veritable whirlwind of everyday office supply's and wood and plaster debris.

Neither of them noticed, the storm of lightning quick blows between them bringing all of their focus onto each others movements.

Swooping through the room at her enemy Fate kept track of Rider as the woman ducked and weaved serpent like around the room, dancing away from Bardiches enormous blade with a measure of grace that made it look easy for her. She snakelike woman was indeed faster than she was and it seemed stronger as well, her chains carrying with them a force that she would not have believed possible from a thrown chain and her many kicks (When they connected with the flat of her sword) almost jarring her fingers with the terrible strength with which they were launched. It was a frustrating fight, the frantic pace of the melee combined with the small dimensions of the room disallowing for her to use any of her stronger spells.

Energy sword met chain again and again, the two weapons rattling and ringing together as their masters pounded away at each other.

Rider weaved around another strike from the blond Maugus, her enormous blade making a move to cleave her asunder from the head down. It was a dicey task avoiding the sword and while Rider felt sure that the purely physical advantage lay with her the swords huge proportions and the impossible fluidity of it's movements despite its size made getting past it a night impossible task even with her speed. Tracing back and forth in the air in front of her opponent it formed an incredibly complete net of defense the simple factor of its length and broadness allowing it the reach of a short spear combined with the cutting length of a sword and (if turned to the flat) the defensive capability's of a shield as well. Light though the remarkable weapon seemed to be for the wielder Rider could tell no difference from blocking it, the length of the weapon giving her opponent massive leverage over her shorter nails.

In some ways it was the perfect weapon, and in the hands of the Magus before her it had nearly killed her twice over. The more she fought the long haired human the more she was reminded of her fight with the diminutive Saber Servant days ago.

Pondering what seemed like her fate to be forever pitted against master weapon users, Rider ran across the room throwing her chain at the Maguses legs trying to maim or at least trip trip her. It did no work, the Magi diving to the side and swinging her sword in a spiral arc at her in retaliation forcing Rider to again jump back and run to look for a new opening.

Pulling herself out of her dive and bringing her sword around again Fate followed Rider's movements carfuly for a moment and then twisted her entire body bringing Bardiche it over her head and slamming it into the spot that she predicted Rider would pass through next.

It nearly got her, Rider pulling up short to prevent being hit dead on. Then turning she aimed a kick at the hit of the device trying to disarm Fate with a strike to the fingers.

Fate pulled her hand away just as the boot connected, sparing her fingers from being crushed, and then immediately grabbed Bardiche with her other hand as the kick dislodged it from the floor for her. Then using the momentum given to her by her very opponent Fate brought her device all the way around, changing hands again behind her back and completing the circular strike at chest level less than a tenth of a second after Rider had kicked it in the first place.

Bardiche's blade moved so fast that for a moment it looked as though Fate had a halo of radiant yellow energy around her shoulders, it was a move that not even Erio could have dodged, and for a second Fate was sure that she had won.

But dodge it Rider did, the snakelike Servant bending over backwards at the waist impossibly far to bring herself underneath the circle of yellow energy. Then using her ability to gasp surfaces to grip the floor with her fingertips she flipped her legs up, her fingers supporting her entire body, and kicked upwards with both feet missing Fates head by inches.

Realizing that none of their attacked had made it through the two enemies broke apart once more, flinging themselves away and skidding towards opposite ends of the room..

A few moments later with a sudden noise of creaking and tearing the floor between them gave way collapsing into the room below them in a cloud of dust leaving them standing on opposite sides of a small precipice. A second later most of the ceiling went the same way falling through the hole that the collapsed floor had made and leaving the entire mess littered a story below them in a jumbled heap.

Looking across the gap at Rider Fate chose to hold off on renewing the assault. While not a perfect tie so far it seemed they were relatively evenly matched. As things stood she could try to keep this up and hold Rider here until reinforcements arrived. It was a time honored TSAB tactic, one that was mercilessly ground into the head of every new recruit in the Enforcer Acadamy's. Here however Fate was not sure it would work. For the first time in... ever possibly, her opponent was faster than she was. Even if by only a little it would allow the Woman who caller herself Rider to almost certainly simply outpace any reinforcements that could arrive, making numbers useless. It was time to beat her now.

"Bardiche" Fate said solemnly, bringing the hilt to her face the blade pointed straight up. Light began to build up around her as she gathered power to herself.

"Hmm? What are you doing Magus?" Rider asked from across the room as her opponent started glowing softly.

"Yes Sir?" The blade answered back dutifully.

Across the room Rider started a little. Had that sword just... spoken?

"Get ready." Fate said gathering more magic to herself through her linker core. With her power limiter still on it would not be perfect, but it would give her all of its speed and that was what she needed now. Closing her eyes Fate released Bardiche with her mind pointing the glowing blade forward.

"_Overdrive,shin sonic form!" _

In a flash of brilliant light Bardiche made the transition, her cape disappearing along with the arm sleeves of her body suit leaving only her twin metal gauntlets. Striped down and without her cape Fate could not help but not that her clothing now much resembled her opponents, save for her neckline that came all the way up to her throat and the red belt that hung at her waist. Pushing all of its energy into her propulsion Fate felt her barrier jacket disappear even the universal shield that was the bread and butter of a Mages defense being shed in favor of boosting one thing.

"You will find that your Magecraft will be of little use against me." Rider called out across the room preparing to meet whatever it was that the Maugus had done.

Bringing Bardishe back into striking position Rate flew up into the air and then down at a sharp angle at her enemy. In quick response Rider jumped at her intending to meet her half way.

This time however it was different. With the speed of a summer storm unleashed Fate rushed, many times faster than sound could ever hope to travel, straight at Rider.

In a flash of black and yellow Rider was blown away, the blade of her enemy striking her daggers with a speed that, for the first time in any of her experiences surpassed her own. For a split moment her arm held, her great strength warding off the momentum of the massive sword. Then it gave and Rider cried out as she was lifted back and thrown into the far wall which split apart with her impact.

Fate didn't stop, flying into the next room and preparing her binding spell in an eye blink.

Only mildly surprised to see that the woman who called herself Rider was still conscious she brought Bardiche down again trying to put her out for good.

But even then Rider was still the fastest person she had ever met, and Sonic Drive did not change that fact. With unbelievable speed Rider rolled out of the way and then spun to her feet, Bardiche cutting into the floor again. Dodging the next blow that Fate sent at her Rider jumped in close bringing her leg up to cave Fates chest in.

It was dodged, Fate moving back and bringing her sword up to disable her kick. Rider pulled her arm away at the last minute bringing her other hand around at the same time in a move to drive her nail through Fates skull.

Fate saw it coming, a blur of black and silver moving towards her temple, almost panicking for a moment she threw her head back just in time to save her life, the nail gouging a deep cut across her cheek. She gasped in pain as the gash sent a jolt of agony through her head, blood suddenly pouring down her face she lost her balance wavering slightly on her feet as Rider drew back to finish her.

"Don't look away!" Rider hissed pulling her nail back and stabbing again in the blink of an eye.

For a moment all fate could think was _My Barrier Jakets gone_. The sudden realization that she was about to die overrode her pain and without thinking she found herself throwing her own head to the side shifting her legs to push off the floor. In half a heartbeat Fate was rocketing backwards, her two ponytails trailing out in front of her face as backpedaled away from the chain wielding killer.

Hiting the wall next to the place where Rider had been thrown through Fate landed feet first, her legs bending to absorb the impact. Pushing away the burning pain in her cheek she looked up. Time seemed to stop going in a dead slow motion as she took in the one who had just nearly taken her life. Rider was still there, diving forward at her, even in what seemed like slow motion she was fast, moving at about the speed of a slowly thrown softball as she weaved around the room running along the walls and floor in an almost artistic spiral motion apparently trying to hit her from an unpredictable angle rather than charge Zamber Form head on again.

This woman was one of those behind the attacks in the city. She had seen her drinking blood with her own eyes just like a vampire, those myths from Nanohas home world. Children were disappearing, after what she had witnessed was it such a stretch to say that the one responsible was before her now? She was sick, a criminal of the worst kind, a killer. A lunatic. A monster...

Fate was in the front seat of her car driving calmly down the road, a silent Subaru staring out the window next to her. After the debriefing Fate had offered the still shaken girl a ride home, an offer she had gladly accepted seemingly eager to get back to her family. For a while she had kept up a facade of cheerfulness trying so hard to act like her old self that is was rather painful to watch. Predictably it had died out after a while, Subaru eventually stopping and just staring out the window at the road.

"Fate..." she said after a little "I... I don't think..." she stopped as if not sure of what to say.

"I am sorry Subaru." Fast said looking over at her with a sad, knowing look. "The first time is always hard."

"N-no its not about that..." Subaru said looking sad and uncomfortable. "It's just that... its about the criminal."

Fate gave another quiet nod keeping her eyes on the road. "We'll find him. I promise you that we will find him."

"I-it not that either!" Subaru burst out looking completely lost.

Fate turned her head to look at her, she was figiting nervously looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Pleas Sub-Chan." Fate said softly "Speak your mind."

Subaru cast a glance around nervously "When I fought him, the Blue... Spearman that is. It- it -ah- didn't actually feel like I was fighting a Mage."

Fate raised her eyebrows a little. Something suddenly told her that this was not going to be what she had been expecting. "You mean he felt like... a Knight?" She asked trying to put a finger on what Subaru was saying. Knights were the old warriors of ancient Belka, while technically Mages their fighting style was so different from what was commonly accepted Magical style and their lineage so old and proud that they were always called by their own title. It was a cast that had died out long ago, with only a few aspects of the old style remaining in the Saint Church who still called their warriors the same though they were not the genuine article. By a twist of fortune, Fate actually did know some Knights Hayate's Wolkenwritter: Signum, Vita Zafira and Shamal were probably the some of the only true knights left in existence, still alive due to their artificial existence.

"No, well yes" Subaru said fumbling over her own tongue. "I mean yes that too but..." For a moment Subaru fumbled and then blurted out "I didn't feel like I was fighting a person!"

"What do you mean?" Fate asked, quietly becoming a little concerned.

"I... I don't know what I mean. I cant say it right, when I was fighting him it was like... the air around him was... alive, or, or something."

"Subaru you had a hard time today." Fate said placing her hand gently on the cyborgs shoulder.

"No! It's not that, look" Subaru gushed "When I first saw him I knew that something was weird, but latter I realized that... When I fought him it was like I was fighting something bigger than myself!"

Really alarmed now Fate looked over out the window. It was time to stop the car and talk. Seeing a little space by the sidewalk Fate put her foot on the break and eased the car to a stop on the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" Subaru asked nervously.

Taking the keys out of the ignition Fate unbuckled herself and leaned over to look Subaru carefully in the eye's.

"Please." Fate said softly, a mother steadying her confused daughter. "Tell me what it felt like, don't hold anything back."

Subaru looked back at Fate and gulped a little. "Well, you saw him on the video camera, but it doesn't show him like he was. I could feel that he was something that was special, like he was more than just a person. He was wild. At time I though he was like an animal, but it was more than that even. It was like he was... more real than everything around him. His, spear didn't cut me because it was sharp it cut me because it was more real than my barrier jacket... more real than me."

Fate listened to Subaru's uneven speech with growing alarm. Had she been disturbed even worse than they had though back at the debriefing room?

"Sub-chan." She said her voice turning firm, sympathy was the wrong move if she was having some kind of breakdown. "You mustn't think like that."

Subaru looked slightly betrayed and turned her head away looking like she was trying not to cry again.

"Look at me Subaru." Fate said her voice warm but firm as iron. Reluctantly Subaru turned her head back to look her in the eye again.

"Sometimes Subaru, when we fight we come against a force that we cant overcome. When that happens, even if you are use to wining, _especially_ if you are used to wining, you can have a crisis. You mysticise the encounter, you attach things to it that it doesn't have because you want it to make sense in a way that makes you more comfortable with you defeat."

Finishing softly Fate gave the younger girl a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "I don't want you to fall into that trap." She added quietly.

For a moment Subaru looked mortified, swallowing and looking at the floor. Then her expression hardened.

"No."

Fate had turned to re-buckle her seat-belt, she looked around again surprised at the sudden certainty of the voice that had just spoken. Subaru was looking at her with a gaze that was every bit as firm as the one that Fate had been giving her only a moment before.

"Subaru?"

"I said no. I know what I felt."

"Subaru you are very tired-"

"I'm _not_ having a breakdown." Subaru said in a voice that left no room for dissuasion. "I'm not a recruit anymore Fate, I saw that thing kill half my squad on front of me and I know what I saw. I might not know what it was but I know now what it wasn't. It wasn't a Mage... that much I know. I wont say it wasn't human but it didn't feel like one either."

"That's enough!" Fate snapped sharply making Subaru flinch. "I didn't think I would ever hear something like that from you. Have you forgotten who you are? You cant just label something not human because you don't understand it!"

The blue haired girl had shrunk back again at her reprimand looking ashamed. Fate knew that Subaru had at times struggled with questions about her own normalcy, as a product of project F herself it was something that Fate was also very familiar with.

"I expected more of you than to lose your reasoning with hypocrisy. You must see that this line of thought is bad for you Sub-Chan."

Subaru said nothing simply looking at the ground, a flush of shame or possibly anger on her face.

Giving out a little sigh Fate gave he another reassuring pat on the shoulder. Re-buckling Fate stuck the keys back into the ignition and drove on. She had tired to bring it up the next day to make sure that the idea had been dropped but Subaru had been unwilling. They had not spoken of it since, though Fate had worried about it often.

And now to think of all thing that it turned out Subaru had been right.

Looking at the thing now it came over Fate all at once in one instantaneous wave of something almost like revulsion. So much about the thing called Rider screamed 'Not human! Not normal!' that it was like a hiccup in reality had forced its way into the ruined office building. The way she moved so gracefully though the air as she ran, the impossible way her perfect floor length hair moved freely yet never seemed to hinder her at all, the way she saw through the blindfold to the world around her. Overlapping all of it was a raw feeling of danger, like an enormous angry, hungry predator was in the room sniffing for her blood. When Fate had seen the young woman drained by the one before her her ind had flown instantly to the conclusion of a lunatic. Now she suspected that it was simply what Rider did. Like a cow grazing, or a dog drinking. Attacking and biting the girl must have been as natural for her as breathing. A monster. Not one of the huge beasts that sometimes wandered the far corners of the world or even the ancient dragons. In the end they were simply animals and aliens. Here was a real live monster, a dark thing that had somehow torn itself out of the pages of a story book to unleash itself on the world. As a child under the harsh tutelage of her mother Fate had never had nightmares like that, she had suffered from other fears but never that most simple fear of monsters. Maybe being such a powerful Mage herself at such a young age had warded off the fears that others suffered from but Fate had never been scared of the thing under her bed. Now for a split instant she knew that fear.

But awful as the sudden wave of realization's was, Fate was not daunted, and though she broke out into goosebumps her limbs lost none of their vigor. It was a strange thing to feel all that and yet somehow keep her mind free of that certain kind of fear that weakens the knees and makes the brave man flee, but keep them separate she did, her mind clear in the course that she must take despite its sudden barrage of doubts.

Looking up at the thing before her Fate moved one finger a quarter of an inch up Bardiche's hilt breaking the spell.

If the flash of insight had come on her suddenly it left just as suddenly, taking most of its conclusions with it leaving only sense of conviction. Bringing Bardiche up one more time Fate closed her eyes and whispered "_Riot Blade_."

Responding to her command instantly Bardiche shrunk, the blade of the power sword becoming condensed and the hilt shrinking into one suitable for a single handed weapon. It was a powerful form, the smaller blade being so strong that it had a tendency to cut through almost anything it encountered.

But Fate wasn't done. Calling out to Bardiche once more Fate changed the position of her hands on her sword and yelled "Riot Zanber!" The hilt spliting in two the compact sword becoming two shining slightly curved one handed swords of the same length connected at the hilts by a long string of glowing energy.

Launching herself off the wall with her legs Fate flew to meet Riders spiral pattern of attack, her falcon like onslaught faster than sound itself, the twin sabers in her hands leaving a brilliant trail of golden after images in the darkness of the room.

Under her mask Rider scrunched her eyes at her mortal opponent. Ever since her sword had spoken and she had been framed by that yellow light everything went wrong. Her speed, previously less than her own was now somehow greater, their roles in reverse now, Rider fighting up hill against a faster opponent. However while that had changed the Maguses sword had not and now Rider felt like she was trying to fight a yellow lightning storm of strikes. Especially infuriating was how for a moment she had nearly had the woman, the brief exchange just after she had been thrown across the room providing her with a deadly opening that she had almost completed. Even though she had survived it had injured and shaken her as well and should have been the beginning of the end for the Magus. Instead when she had come back at her a moment latter, her weapon _again different,_ Rider had found that she was once again fighting a even headed warrior with a steady arm, the wound on her cheek apparently shrugged off. It was an act of fortitude that she would have expected of the savage Lancer, not the stately woman before her now, blood running down her cheek freely as they crossed blade on chain again and again the steady focus of the Magus warrior never failing as she employed her duel wielding weapons with as much grace and skill as ever.

Flying around the room in a exchange that would have been unfollowable to a normal human's eyes the two of them fought, the hissing of Riders weapons and the glow of Fates swords and the clashing noise that both of them made when they struck filling the room to the brim.

Rider clenched he teeth as she evaded another sweep from the Magi's sword. It felt like she was fighting a Saber. A very fast if rather delicate Saber. The impression only got stronger when one of the Maguses swords suddenly slashed out turning in the opposite way that she had counted on and scored her heavily in the stomach elicting from her a cry of pain. There was a flash of blueish sparks as the blade apparently set off her Magical resistance to some degree followed by a sickening pain that clearly said that all the other degrees in the sword evidently did not. Clutching her stomach and chest with one hand Rider jumped away from her adversary.

It was time to leave. Shutting off her intake of Prana from her Master Rider astralized disappearing and making the Magus draw herself up short looking alarmed but unastonished at her sudden invisibility.

Making a mental note to someday take the eyes of the Magus before her Rider gathered her insubstantial self together and... she couldn't move.

Struggling to fly away Rider was confronted by a magically saturated atmosphere that made movement impossible for her. Someone had erected a barrier of some kind to prevent he escape!

Materializing again only a few inched from where she had started Rider jumped for the opening into the other room that they had demolished earlier.

She could hear the Magus give a small shout when she spotted her again and renew the chase. Running as fast as she could manage Rider felt again the strange sensation of a binding spell dissolving against her magical resistance. Scuttling like a spider across the wall Rider made a weaving path towards the far wall her irregular movements making it seem like she was headed for the old exit.

The Magus fell for it crossing the room in a heartbeat to cover that way out, when in reality Riders target was simply the wall itself. Reaching her destination Rider threw herself around in a roundhouse kick that hit the wall facing the outside and smashed a crater into it big enough for her to crawl her way through.

Diving head first into the new hole in the wall Rider pulled herself through in a flash and crawled out onto the side of the building clinging to it with all four limbs.

Rider froze looking outward.

In the air around the building they had been fighting in was what must have been twenty Maguses in uniform all flying in semi formation watching the building like hawks.

The next moment one of them gave a yell and in an instant they all turned to her with shouts of "Surrender!" and "Drop you weapons!"

Jumping to her feet on the side of the skyscraper Rider took off running pellmell up the side of the building. There were a few gasps from the assembled Magi at her speed, but it did not last and a second later the whole side of the building she was running on was perforated with glowing beams and bolts of magical energy.

Running jumping back and forth across the roof in a blur of black and purple Rider evaded all of them with some difficulty, the wound in her stomach seeming to weigh her down in a task that would normally have been nigh effortless.

The feeling of multiple rings of energy forming around her and threatening to overwhelm her Magical resistance pressed down on Rider as several of the Magi chanted what sounded like commands of binding. She left them far behind, moving through the space that the binds were about to appear in before they could materialize and tie her down.

Throwing her chain at one of the Magus closest to her she was rewarded with a cry of pain as she moved up, not looking back and simply pulling her chain back to herself on the run. It was clean, the edge not stained with blood as she had hoped it would be. Hissing in frustration Rider dodged a blast of green energy the size of a desk only to find that the side of the building in front of her was suddenly sprouting large spikes.  
Jumping over them saw the spikes form into what was obviously meant to be a cage to hem her in, she bypassed it completely the tops of the tallest spikes feet below her as she flew upwards through the air.

Then in a flash of black and red her old opponent was suddenly upon her, flying out of the building like a swallow from its roost, the sword wielding Magus made an arch though the air towards her and then stopped hovering 20 meters away.

In a flash of something like fear Rider poured all the energy she could muster into her legs and shot forward reaching the top of the building, vaulting up over the side onto the roof.

From what Rider could tell the boundary that had been established to prevent her from leaving and kept her from moving when astralized ended about a hundred yards from the edge of the roof, it felt like a simple condensed veil of Prana or something like it. Powering through would take only a moment.

Running across the roof towards the edge of the field Rider prepared to close the gap between her and the opposite side.

There was a sudden glow of yellow light behind her, throwing her shadow out across the roof at a narrow angle.

"Plasma Smasher!"

Acting on instinct Rider stuck her foot out in front of her reversing her momentum and jumping backwards as the ground in front of her was suddenly obliterated by a gigantic beam of crackling yellow light.

She was flung back even farther than she had tried for, the small shock-wave that accompanied the blast hitting her mid air and adding a few more feet to her jump.

Fate looked on as the whole building shook under the power of her spell a portion of it crumbling and falling into the city below. The enforcers had been thorough in their protocol once they had arrived, setting up a perimeter on the ground below. There would be no collateral casualty's. Not that she would have _done_ a bombardment spell had it been otherwise.

As soon as Fate had gotten clear of the building she had flown to the top of the skyscraper and begun preparing. Fast as Rider was there was no time for anything stronger, the slightly outdated spell coming easily to her mind and unleashing itself far faster than she could have done all those years ago when she first developed it. If her estimation had been right then she would have taken the thing that called itself Rider out in one blow. It had been right and it was only due to the black clad things unbelievable reflexes that she was still conscious.

With no time to cast another spell of such power Fate swopped down with a shout, scissoring her two blades together from opposite angles at her opponent. They were blocked by Riders nails the serpent like woman reaching up with both of her nails and meeting her split devise in on both sides and the shoving her away, the woman's incredible strength driving her back.

Fate simply rolled with it, flying back up into the air she came back again like a boomerang this time striking at Rider's head and leg.

It went through, the head strike being pushed away but her left blade sweeping in and passing clean through Riders leg after a moment of resistance leaving a trail of strange sparks that she did not recognize.

Rider cried out as the glowing blade entered her leg and then was removed, leaving a strangely shallow looking cut even through the wound was deep.

Parrying her slow counter attack Fate flew up into the air an hovered 50 feet over her opponent. The wound on Riders leg would not be a problem, as an energy weapon Bardiche was capable of operating on a frequency that did little real harm to flesh while stunning the cells inside and rendering that part of the body immobile. It made it a convenient non lethal weapon. Not that it couldn't kill if she wasn't careful that was, but a simple phase through the leg would not be fatal.

It was over. If Rider could only keep up with her in sonic form then there was no way she could continue to fight wounded in the leg and stomach. Gathering herself once more to hammer the criminal into submission Fate turned griped her split device and prepared to swoop down from her great height.

On the roof below Rider stumbled where she stood, the dead feeling in her leg waring against her supernatural endurance. It was outrageous! No human Magi should be able to fight on her level. A divine spirit laid low by a child of the mud? Images of a certain man flashed through her mind. Standing before her towering form and biding her to come. No, even he had been equipped with the weapons of the gods. This one here, was simply a mortal sorceress, not even from the age when Magic was strong. There was no excuse for what was happening.

"You miserable Magus!" She screamed throwing her head back and looking up at Fate and the Enforcers who now floated around her waiting for their leader to finish the job. Reaching up towards the back of her head Riders hand found the small clasp that held her blindfold Breaker Gorgon to her face. "You think to fly above the earth like a god? It's time you were returned to your place on the earth!"

The Magus dived, flying straight at her at an angle her swords extended and a grim look on her face.

Rider smiled slightly inside, a bitter twisted smile that came from long ago when she preyed upon the world. _Let that expression grace her features forever, _she thought with a note of cruel satisfaction.

In one swift motion Rider undid the clasp and pulled the blindfold from her face, her eyes flung open wide as she finally saw the world as it was, without her ever present purple filter. Looking up at the Magus who was even then driving down on her, her eyes found her face. _It almost a shame, _Rider thought briefly. _She has such pleasant features for a human. _

Flying down on Rider Fate was surprised when the woman suddenly removed her mask, it could have meant several things had she thought about it longer but now she was in a battle mindset and the only thing that mattered was finishing the fight and arresting the suspect.

Then Rider looked up at at her, her face finally revealed in the pail moonlight. For a moment Rider seemed to study her face.

Then their eyes met.

Fate felt her whole body suddenly tense involuntary, the mussels in her arms, legs, neck and abdomen going into a split second spasm like they had received a small electric shock. Riders eyes were a deep purple set bizarrely in the middle with two rectangular irises that seemed to suddenly fill her whole vision. They were entrancing, almost seeming to jump out at her as she looked into them. She couldn't look away.

Fate realized with a sudden and terrible shock that she **really** couldn't look away, her neck frozen in place as what felt almost like static electricity ran up and down her whole body locking her joints and making her mussels freeze in place. She was paralyzed!

For a moment Fates paralysis was complete, then it shook. With a feeling of something fighting inside her she regained momentary control over her movement but it was crude, her body shook as if it was going into shock and she lost control of her flight path.

Still flying forward at diving speed Rider jumped out of her way as she shot past unable even to pull herself out of the dive or slow herself down.

Rider watched in smug satisfaction as the blond Magus fell right through the place she had just been standing. Had it not been for the massive spell that she had unleashed earlier she would have struck the roof of the building she was standing on head first. Instead, with one side of the roof sheered clean of by the awesome power of the sorcery she plummeted past the buildings new edge and hit the side of the next building over disappearing in a explosion of broken glass as she fell though a window. Two of the other Magi also caught in her gaze went the same way, one following the blond Magus in an ark hitting the building a story or so above where she had landed. The third had not been moving and fell straight down, hitting the roof in a heap.

Rider frowned looking at him, his face frozen open in the expression of shock that was so typical of her victims. He had not turned to stone, instead simply freezing in the paralyzed state that was reserved for beings with a high internal magical circulation.

There were gasps and shouts of outrage and fear from the other Magi in the air above her. Turning on them and looking another in the eye's of one she felt a faint thrum of cruel satisfaction as the younger man gasped, his expression becoming frozen permanently in horror as he turned to stone in mid air, and tumbled out of the sky to impact on the roof, a still statue of marble clutching a Magi's staff. The men next to him also fell of of the air, most simply paralyzed but a one other transfigured. The power of Riders eyes was not limited to those who looked directly into them and could turn to stone even her targets who had there yes averted, it was a testament to the power of the Magi, many of who now fell out of the sky like stones that only two of their number had hardened to stone.

Rider turned once more and fled, not even bothering to dodge the bolts that came after her. Running across the remains of the roof she reached he edge and jumped her divine swiftness leaving her pursuers far behind. A few seconds later she reached the edge of the field that had been established to hold her in and powered through it disappearing into the night as she astralized on the other side.

_Hello Mid Childa. :) I have just noticed that there are now flesh eating worms breeding in your sewers_

_and giant snake monsters jumping around on your roofs. This whole chapter just tells me that you need a really good health inspector for your city. _

_Wow, so my first real super chapter. Was it to much? I never intended it to be this long but it just grew and grew. The funny thing is I would have released earlier but Gabes In Flight chapter came out and I did not want this to be overshadowed by that. Then I got caught up watching Jackie Chan movies. _

_I realize that Rider has been getting all of the fights so far, this is because her master is not to bright and is being moderately influenced by Caster. She is kind of what Lancer was in the 5ith holly grail war, so far relegated to pawn duty. Expect this to be the last fight with her as a main combatant for a while._

_Now to adress some complaints before they arise, Fate was not casting many spells because the entire mattle was a light fast melee mash that left no time for casting most spells. We those were the two fastest characters in either works going at it with weapons. There was no time to cast many fancy lightning bolts. If there is some super move that I forgot about that would have completely alterd how the battle would have been fought please tell me. But I think I did a estimation of how the fight would go. Did I do it justice?_

_With the Subaru and fate flashback conversation I wanted to portray something specific. I think that the level at which Servants dazzle people has something to do with said persons outlook. Subaru who is a very emotional person immediately sensed that something was abnormal about the servants. Nanoha who is also very emotional but has that emotion tempered with a certain amount of the skepticism that comes with experience did not immediately realise something was weird about Saber but did after a little. Fate who is much more cool headed and "Grounded" if you will did not notice anything strange except for the obvious about Rider until she nearly got killed by her. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. _

_I must say that Caster is fun to write, Nameless Flame this is really taken from you work a lot, I love the Caster parts of your story, it cast her as sort of a mad scientist and I fell in love with them. Its also useful to explain magic details and, I think, fun to try and portray somebody as devious as she is and attempt to do her justice. How did I do?_

_The other person that I am interested in feedback on is Mahail. I tried to get her to feel distinctly different from Illya and at the same time having a few simalaritys in genral manner. What I was trying for was someone who has a different nature but received the same nurture as Illya did. Does she feel like her own character or just an Illy photocopy? Just because she is an physical Illy photocopy doesn't mean I want her character to be the same. _

_At a certain point in this chapter Vivio and Einhalt were both very close to death. It should not be to hard to figure out when_

_I am thinking about completely re-editing my intro chapter. Who would support this? Fic needs a new intro? Yeah?_


	10. Chapter 10 Dream of a Samurai

Ch 10: Dream of a Samurai

"So what's the body count for today Shamal?" Fate said wearily looking up from her hospital bed at the blond hared woman in doctors robes before her.

"None for today you'll be happy to hear." The older woman said looking down at her kindly.

Giving a satisfied nod in return Fate sunk down deeper into the blankets of her hospital bed. She had not had a restful night to say the least, and she had a feeling that this would be one of the last chances that she would get to simply lay idle for a long time.

It was early the next morning after the battle with the Mage Rider and despite her relatively quick recovery from the strange paralysis that the... madwoman had inflicted on her, she had been subjected to a mandatory full medical examination after the cut on her face had been healed. Results were still pending but it seemed that whatever strange energy had been used to try and shut down her motor functions mid battle had simply drained out of her body as cleanly as water from a cup.

Unfortunately the same could not be said for the two Enforcers who had somehow been literally transfigured into _rock_. In one of the most bizarre and disturbing reports that Fate had ever received from an autopsy operation the doctors and Mages assigned to the two stone figures had unanimously come to one conclusion. Of whatever terrifying force that had made the deadly change there was no trace remaining but as far as was possible to tell the flesh and blood body's of the two men had been instantaneously transfigured into a recrystallized Calicite mixture such as was commonly used by sculptors. The two men had been physical and irreversibly changed into marble.

It was nearly inconceivable. Magic as a rule mostly did not work in such ways in the first place, as an energy that flowed with the laws of physics rather than against them (as was the popular opinion among the uneducated) and such a alteration would be nearly impossible. While it was true that transformation was semi common among Mages, the human body simply did not contain the chemical composition to become solid stone. To change into such would have required that that the body's of the men be vaporized and the substance for the stone be created on the spot out of pure Mana in the shape of the men's body's to replace them. A immensely complicated and pointless procedure.

More than any of this however it did nothing to explain the simple paralysis that had affected all of the other victims, the instantaneous manner that it had been preformed in or the lack of any magical circle that would be necessary for such a spell, why she had removed her blindfold or any other of a hundred impossible factors. Why Riders eyes had seemed to fill her vision just before she froze was not the the least of the questions in her mind.

It was one of the rare cases where the details seemed to become more and more impossible as they examined the facts. Men turned to stone by the eyes of a blindfolded woman. It was like something out of a fairy tail, a thought that made Fate uncomfortable for reasons that she could not place.

"Well." Shamal said smiling encouragingly down on her "You will be happy to know that one of the other paralyzed men has regained the ability to walk, so for the others it looks quite encouraging that they'll be ready for duty in another day or so. That is if your condition is any sign."

Fate let out a breath. "Two enforcers dead, a woman cationic and a insane criminal likely around triple A Mage rank loose in the city, with friends."

"We will pull through." Shamal sighed sadly. "You got through us after all." She added lightly in a rather forced attempt at humor.

Fate smiled slightly at Shamal. "I know we will." Her face going slack again she murmured "The only question is how soon."

The blond Wolkenwritter shook her head. "I will leave you for now, there's still a lot to see on what can be done about the patents."

"This must be a busy time for you as well." Fate said blinking as the though occurred to her. "You're the one who is trying to cure all the linker core damaged victims aren't you?"

"Yes." Shamal said wearily. "Me and a few of the other Doctors have been up nearly twenty four seven in the past few days trying to find a solution, I'm afraid though that time and good care are the only cures for such injury's."

Fate nodded softly from her bed looking up at the ceiling.

"The problem really is how little we know about the problem." Shamal went on talking as she walked over to the cabinet in the corner and began looking through it. "We know that the Linker Core is involved but there is obviously much more than that that has been damaged. If we could just find out what that was then we could start working on trying to actually speed the recovery proses."

"I see, I am sure you will find it soon enough," Fate said not quite sure what to say. She was after all not a Doctor though she supposed it couldn't be to different from trying to track down a criminal without any clues.

"Thank you." Shamal replied, her voice sincere if a little sad.

Looking up as there was a knock on the door to the ward, Shamal excused herself and walked away leaving Fate to close her eyes and try to sink back into sleep. Aside from the paralysis she had broken her wrist and fractured a few other bones in her crash into the building, and though they had quickly been healed it had been a trying experience, the pain and feeling of slight nausea still fresh in her mind from the night before. In truth she was lucky, while in Sonic Drive her barrier Jacket, the fundamental layer of protection that all Mages relied on for survival in Magical combat, was gone. That most basic defense sacrificed on the alter of pure speed, Fate relied on her unparalleled agility alone to protect her when in said form and it made it so that the normally safe crash had become dangerous, literally the only thing in between her and the outside world being a thin Magical field that prevented such things as wind resistance and dust particles from pushing her eye sockets back into her head fatally when she flew.

It was a risky gamble and one she had almost paid for lat night, the crash only being cushioned by a timely auto-defensor spell from Bardiche that had prevented her from breaking her neck on the far wall of the building she had hit going hundreds of miles per hour. It had been a long night indeed, and it somehow seemed like she was no closer to the bottom of the Incident than ever.

Fate opened her eyes and looked over at the far door in surprise as she heard Shamal suddenly give a gasp of delight and began what sounded like a stream of congratulations.

Curious Fate raised her head up an looked over, spotting Shamal speaking in happy tones to what looked like two other people in the door way. Fates heart did a little leap in her chest as she realized what that probably meant. Though it had been only a few hours since her condition had probably been reported to her family she had never the less spent that time in rather anxious yearning for the company of her friends.

Her hopeful speculation was confirmed when Shamal nodded and turned back giving Fate what looked like a analytical glance. "Ah, Fate? Would you be interested in visitors?"

Smiling and nodding eagerly Fate beckoned for the three of them to come over, siting up in bed quickly and trying to look composed.

The irony of meeting her foster children for the first time in nearly three years from a hospital bed was not lost on Fate as she sat there wiping her hands nervously on the sheets. With the incident going as it had been she had found herself, to her bitter disappointment, unable to go to meet them at the airport for their homecoming and the fact that she had nearly been killed last night had shaken her deeply on more issues than her own life. As it was she had determined that no matter what happened she would meet with Erio and Caro at least once before she went back on duty.

So it was that it was with a little jolt of surprise and a distinct twang of disappointment in her stomach that Fate realized that the two visitors were not her two foster children or her life long friend nor in fact anyone else she knew. Rather a strange couple was walking towards her bed smiling pleasantly. Her feeling of disappointment was momentarily arrested however when she looked more closely at the two coming towards her. Or more specifically one of them.

The first was slightly tired looking man in a white doctors coat, brown hair ruffled and with small bags under his eyes as though he had not gotten enough sleep recently. It was the woman beside him however that caught Fates attention and made her forget for a second why she had been sad.

With hair a shade of blue lighter than the morning sky and pail features that looked as if they had been sculpted by a master artisan the woman who walked side by side with the doctor seemed to be almost radiant in her elegance She was tall, slender and pale with an exquisite, distinctly angelic looking face flanked on either side by two strangely pointed ears almost like an elf from a fairy tail. Dressed in an elegant three piece outfit consisting of a long buttoned skirt and a short blue denim jacket over a black shirt she stood next to the doctor smiling demurely at her as they walked forward.

"Hello." Fate said feeling suddenly awkward. "I'm afraid we have never met before."

"This is Dr Jared Stein. He's one of the better Mage surgeons in the city." Shamal said introducing the man on the left with an air of familiarity. "And this is his... Sister?" She asked turning towards him for confirmation like she was unfamiliar with their relation. He nodded politely.

"Tara Arugaina from out of town." Shamal finished on giving the lady next to him a friendly nod.

"Fate Harlown." Fate said politely only moderately surprised at the unusual name. As the center of the TSAB strange names were common in Mid after all.

Tara gave a small elegant curtsy in reply, her face light as she smiled at her. "Delighted to meet you Miss Harlaown."

"As I understand it you also practice medicine?" Shamal asked looking at her curiously.

The two siblings gave little laughs together, the soft voice of Tara contrasting with her brothers deeper chuckle. "Practice medicine?" Jared said incredulously "What an understatement! My sister is the best healer I've ever run across. She's the one who inspired me to take up the art in the first place!"

"Oh? You must be quite the doctor Missis Arugaina." Shamal said with a touch of respect in her voice.

"Thank you" Tara answered softly in a smooth flute like tone. "Though he does me to much credit. For the most part I prefer the country to large city's like this."

"I see." Shamal said nodding her head cheerfully in understanding. "So what brings you here? I am sorry to say that I have never heard your name before."

"I heard that there was an incident going on a few days ago." Tara said gravely. "And that the victims were afflicted with an incurable condition. I have come to see if my arts are sufficient to mend the damage done by the cowards responsible. Unfortunately I had to get a official certification in order to be allowed to come here. I had to have my brother recommend me among other things."

"Well." Fate said smiling up at the blue hared woman. "I am glad that you decided to try and help us. As always civilian collaborators are greatly appreciated by the TSAB."

"You're welcome Mis Harlaown though in truth for now I came to see you."

"Me?" Fate asked raising her eyebrow.

"Yes." Tara replied smoothly. "I hear that you cornered and almost defeated one of the villains in this tragedy. You must be quite the eagle to crush the serpents spine in this manner."

"Well..." Fate murmured not sure what to make of the apparent complement. "Thank you, but I am afraid that you must have been misinformed as to what took place last night. The criminal escaped and we had casualty's as well."

"Ah but you forget, you have dealt the first strike against these..." She seemed to hesitate for a moment searching for the proper word. "Miscreants... Now they know that you can fight them on their own terms. They will not be so bold now I think."

Fate looked up Tara curiously, unsure what to make of the strange healers comments. "I'm not sure if I follow you Misses Arugaina" She made out carefully a tiny hint of suspicion appearing in the back of her mind. "Do you know something about these terrorists?"

"Would that I did, but I fear it is not so." She started regretfully. "However I have seen the work of powerful renegades before. Their viciousness is outweighed only by their arrogance. Your near capture of one of them last night will have shaken their confidence."

"If you say so." Fate murmured slowly, weighing the newcomers words as she looked up at her. Though normally she would have put little stock in the offhand comments of an uninformed civilian, and one who was making several baseless assumptions at that, the woman before her somehow gave of the distinct feeling that she knew what she was talking about. It was not an entirely comfortable feeling.

"I do." Tara insisted her voice taking on an unusual intensity as she looked down on her. "Rejoice young lady, for you are blessed with power unheard of in mortals these days. I have no doubt that you will prosper in whatever you set your hand to."

"Thank you." Fate said hesitantly a little unsettled by Tara's rather oddly worded praise of her power. "But you needn't."

Tara just smiled at her again, a knowing look spread across her features. "Well then, I suppose we must let you take your ease for now, I must see if there is anything I can do for the other patents. Good luck in your Investigation Miss Harlaown. And don't mind me, I may be dropping in and out."

" Good luck to you to." Fate called after her as she turned and walked out of the room, her brother trailing after her.

"It looks like you have a partner to work with." She said turning to Shamal after Tara had left the room.

"Yes." Shamal said happily also looking after the departed duo. "If what Jared said is true then his sister must be very skilled. I'm going to enjoy seeing what she can do."

Fate smiled. If she wasn't mistaken then it seemed like Shamal was indeed looking forward to seeing what Tara could do. In truth it was highly improbable that the blue hared woman was as good a doctor as Shamal was, after all the blond haired Wollkenritter had hundreds of years of experience under her belt and healing was her specialty. Still Fate could tell that Shamal was enthused over the arrival of the acclaimed expert.

"Still I'm surprised that Jared has a sister." Shamal said thoughtfully as she gazed out the open door. "I've know him for more than a year now and he has never mentioned any siblings."

"I thought he said that she was his inspiration?" Fate said.

Shamal cupped her chin in her hands looking confused. "Maybe they had a falling out? Things like that happen. Anyhow it would be rude to pry."

"Mmmhmm." Fate yawned putting it out of her head, she Felt very sleepy suddenly and nestled down in her blankets. Shamal saw and smiled.

"I think I will let you rest now. Don't worry Nanoha will be along soon, its only been an hour of so since they would have heard about it you know."

"Yeah." Fate said shaking her head and blinking slowly. Leaning back into the blankets she closed her eyes as Shamal left, closing the door and turning the light off for her on the way out. Pushing her concerns away Fate let her mind go blank and she sunk back into a deep sleep.

*Scene *

Holding on to the steering wheel and squinting her eyes to get a clear look at the road Nanoha hunched behind the wheel of her car, her tired eyes watching the road carefully as she took the exit off the freeway. The car behind them doing the same as Lutecia's mother Megan followed her to the hospital with her daughter. Next to her in the passengers seat Erio sat looking stiffly out the window at the traffic rushing by while behind both of them Vivio and Caro sat curled up in their seats occasionally talking to each other in whispers.

It had been 3:00 in the morning when she had received the phone-call telling her that Fate had been hospitalized after a fight with a criminal and was now in an emergency ward. Although she had tried to keep Vivio from hearing it and had sent everyone back to bed, neither of these had done any good. Vivio had somehow found out anyway and no one had gotten any sleep that night especially after the brief argument of whether or not to drive down to the hospital immediately. As much as it pained her Nanoha had resisted her first impulse to rush to her car, or even forget city regulations and simply fly over to the hospital where Fate was being kept. She was no stranger to hospitals, and the chances of her being allowed to see Fate so soon after she had been committed were nill.

The logic however did nothing and it had been one of the longest nights she could ever remember, sleep a million miles away as she lay in bed, Vivio curled up next to her, fidgeting. The young girl unable to fall fast asleep either, the excitement of the encounter with the White Hared girl that very day probably not helping.

Merging into the lane next to her Nanoha spotted the hospital coming up and felt herself let out a involuntary sigh. They were nearly there. She tapped the steering wheel as a kind of nervous energy invaded her limbs. She had called the hospital three times in the past few hours and had been assured that Fate was alright but it had only helped a little. The receptionist on the phone was at first not able to give her any details regarding her exact state, and when she had finally been told that Fate was without serious injury now that she had been treated it had been 6 AM.

Nanoha drove on, the car eating up the distance between her and the Hospital with smooth efficiency that was somehow very unsatisfying, the human urge to run when in haste grating against the relaxed siting position that driving a car required. Nanoha pulled into the parking lot of the hospital feeling ready to jump out of her car and make a dash for the front doors.

Holding Vivio's hand despite her daughters protests she set out, the trip across the lot seeming to take an inordinate amount of time to her. Beside her Erio, Caro, Lutecia and Megan all walked quietly the older woman, a quiet pillar of support behind her, for which she was grateful.

Despite the earliness of the hour the lobby of the hospital was not empty, Ground Force solder's sitting in various corners watching them come in. From what she understood, with nearly all the victims of the incident being treated here the security of the hospital had been enforced by TSAB military personnel.

Approaching the front desk Nanoha hailed the receptionist, a rather plump woman who became somewhat flustered when she told her her name but had the reserve to say nothing.

"Fate Harlaown..." She said quickly looking down a list behind the desk. "She is in the Recovery Ward as of now, and is now permitted visitors. That would be third floor, room 7."

Nanoha thanked her and then headed for the elevator, the others following her closely.

"Does this mean that Fate Mommy is okay?" Vivio whispered up to her as they all crossed the lobby together.

Nanoha felt a tiny twinge of surprise. While Vivio had once referred to her parents as nothing but 'Nanoha Mommy and Fate Mommy' that practice had slowed in the past few years, a development that she had felt herself a little saddened by. If she had regressed into the old habit however, then perhaps Vivio was more shaken than she had originally thought. _Should I have told her?_ The question popped into her head and lingered for a moment before she banished it. Her daughter had a right to know what was going on, and Vivio, more than most children her age knew about danger and the consequences of her parents line of work.

They made their way to the elevator, waiting for a few minutes after they had pushed the button, Erio apparently recovering his spirits a little as they did so.

"Well, she cant be in to badly hurt if she is taking visitors so early." He said apparently trying to cheer the rather subdued crowd up. Nanoha actually felt herself smile a little at his efforts. It was true, though more of her worry came from the fact that Fate had been injured at all than the severity of her injury. Unlike Vita, Fate specialized in avoiding damage completely and if she had been hurt at all, it was almost a given that things had been very dangerous last night.

All the same, she could not help but smile at how Erio was trying to encourage everyone, even if she knew that he knew the same.

With a 'whisk' the doors to the lift opened, several nurses and other patients stepping out as they stepped in and pushed the button for the third floor. With another 'wisk' the doors slid closed on them and they all felt the familiar feeling of slight vertigo native to all elevators as it shot upward.

A few seconds later and the lift slowed to a stop, letting out a soft 'Ding' as the doors slid open revealing the third floor and a few hospital personnel who were getting on.

Maybe it was because of her distraction but Nanoha did not notice that one of the doctors was someone she knew until Caro let out a small gasp of delight. "Shamal!" She said beaming up at the blond hared doctor in front of them.

"Caro!" Shamal said looking down at the pink hared girl and then up at the rest of them in mild surprise. "And the rest of you."

"Is Fate Mommy okay?" Vivio demanded immediately running over to her.

Shamal looked down at Vivio who was almost glaring at her. She broke out into a warm smile and looked back up at the rest of them again. "Fate is just fine." She said beaming directly at Nanoha as she did so.

For a moment Nanoha felt nothing, and then what felt like a huge wave of relief washed over her making her suddenly want to sit down. The official over the phone had told her that Fate was alright, the woman at the desk had told her that she was in the recovery ward now, but their was something about Shamal that set her suddenly at ease. Maybe it was how long they had know each other, but now that the blond Wolkenritter had told her the same with a smile she knew it was true. It was more than the fact that Shamal was a master healer. It was Shamal.

"What happened?" Erio demanded looking, despite his earlier reassurances, slower to accept the fact that his adoptive mother was okay despite having been in emergency only a few hours before.

"Fate-chan was in a fight last night." Shamal said, her voice soothing but serious at the same time. "She attempted to apprehend one of the Terrorists but was hit by something strange that disabled her flight. The criminal was able to escape."

"So why was she in emergency then?" Erio persisted.

Shamal looked at him, her smile fading, as if their was something that she was hesitant to talk about. Erio did not miss the expression and began to tense once more.

"Well, the officials in charge of the case were concerned about the device used to disable her, it had had... lingering adverse effects on several other Mage's who were hit by it and they wanted to make sure that she would not suffer from delayed symptoms."

"Oh. Is everyone else okay? Was it very bad?" Caro asked,curious as to what it was exactly that had put her mother in emergency

"Maybe we should talk about that some other time." Shamal said, her smile faltering a little at the question. "For now Fate has been wanting to see you since she got transferred to this ward."

Nodding happily Vivio took Shamal by the hand, much the same way that Nanoha had been holding her a moment before.

Together they made their way down the hall past several doors on either side before finding the one marked 7, Vivio nearly running forward to open it.

The hospital room was dark inside and had obliviously been sealed off to allow the occupant to sleep, lit only by the faint glow or the sun that still managed to make it around the edges of the drapes covering the windows. It was a smaller room, with about six beds that were empty except one at the far end.  
As soon as the door creaked, a person in a bed at her far end of the room lifted her head to regard them and then sat up quickly with a jolt.

"Nanoha! Erio!" Fate cried her face splinting into a smile as she looked at them from her bed. There was the briefest pause before Vivio, Erio and Caro all suddenly bolted across the room and threw themselves at her.

"Mother!" Erio said reaching her first but stopping short of embracing. "Are you injured?" He said looking her up and down. Sure enough one of her hands was bandaged.

"Its nothing," Fate said quickly throwing her arms around her adopted son and pulling him close. "the doctors took care of it all."

"Ah! M-Mom." Erio made out as she hugged him. It had been years since he had seen her he realized, and now that they were reunited she was in a hospital bed. But okay, Fate was okay. The cloud of gloom that been hovering over him since he had arrived, and which had intensified into a storm a few hours ago when he had heard she had been injured was now melting away completely as they embraced.

Fate gave him one last squeeze before letting go and doing the same to Caro who was standing on the other side of the bed with Vivio and looking anxiously at her, her big eyes wide and a little watery. Pulling her close as well, the small girl's feet barley touching the floor as she hugged her, Fate was surprised when she realized that it was her who was making the sniffing sound.

Still embracing Caro, and with Erio close on her left Fate was caught of guard when a sudden weight struck her from the front throwing her back down onto her back with a plop and making Caro lose her balance and fall over her stomach as she went backwards.

"Fate Mommy!" Vivio cried her arms somehow wrapped around her neck suddenly. Righting herself Fate gave Vivio a surprised look, the young girl having apparently backed up and made a flying leap over the bed to get to her hands around her neck more quickly, bowing her over in the process.

"Vivio-chan!"Nanoha scolded. "You shouldn't be so rough!" Reaching the foot of Fates bed she looking at her dearest friend anxiously. Sure enough, just like Shamal had said she seemed to be one and whole. A smile began to tug at the edges of her mouth, fighting against the reprimand she was trying to give Vivio for jumping on a potentially inured person.

"I'm all right." Fate laughed softly, straightening herself once more and giving her daughter an affectionate nuzzle with her nose, one which was returned eagerly.

Light streamed into the room as Shamal went around throwing back the curtains for the occasion, transforming the darkened ward into a bright white room that seemed to shine with the glow of the reunion, not only between worried family members, but between children who had been away from their Mother for years and had come home to find her injured in action and were only now meeting again for the first time.

"Is it true Moma?" Vivio asked, her arms still warped tightly around Fates neck. "They said that you got attacked by a criminal and that they hurt you and then got away."

"Vivio!" Erio said sharply in surprise, making her wince and look up at her older brother.

"Its alright Erio." Fate said. Turning back to Vivio she ran her hand through her daughters hair and patted it. "The bad guys didn't get me last night Vivio, we nearly got them. In a few weeks hopefully, we will find them all and I can come back to you."

Vivio gave a little nod and squeezed Fate once again, her grip starting to become uncomfortable.

"Why don't you get down for now Vivi." Nanoha said taking her daughter by the shoulder and easing her away. A little reluctantly Vivio uncoiled her arms and plopped of the bed, turning to stand next to Caro.

"Lutecia, Megan." Fate said looking to the right as the long hared girl and her mother approached the bed more slowly, not wishing to make themselves know before the closer family members. "I heard that you're moving in with us. Congratulations on your release."

"Thank you Fate." Lutecia chirped, beaming at her as well.

"Nanoha, did Vivio and Einhalt show them the room yet?" Fate asked looking at her fully for the first time since she had walked in. They both paused for a moment looking at each other, a kind of silent communication passing between the them as they stood their. It was not the first time they had been in this position, speaking to one another while the other was in a hospital bed. Nanoha had spent several months actually, Fate watching over her every day that she could, and Nanoha had done the same for her on a few occasions. _Are you okay? _Was the question. And the answer coming back was _yes_, with just a hint of something else that Nanoha could not interpret.

Still it was enough, and Nanoha relaxed as the last of her concern faded into the background. Whatever else was going on she could endure for now so long as Fate was alright. They would have their talk about what had happened after, but for now it was just them and the family.

"So, Erio, Caro." Fate said turning towards them with a smile "What is it you have been doing on Surpools? I want to hear all about it."

"W-what?" Erio made out "We've been telling you over the Telecam for nearly two years!"

"Well bring me up on the latest, its much better to hear it face to face anyway."

"Ohh..." Caro said looking down at the ground as if trying to think of something to say. "Well for the past few weeks we have been saying goodbye to friends and packing getting ready to come here."

"Don't be silly Caro." Lutecia said cheerfully. "Fate wants to get the full picture of your adventures!"

"Our adventures?" Erio said awkwardly looking at Caro for support. "Well...We stopped some more poachers... but I already told you all about that."

"Tell me about what you did to get Lutecia off her sentence early." Fate said patiently. "Its the story I have been wanting to hear for some time now."

"Ah. That." Erio said blushing suddenly as Lutecia beamed at him from across the bed. Caro noticed her gaze and flushed herself, a look of irritation briefly crossing her features before she went around and placed herself next to Erio as well.

"Well, they wanted witnesses that she was trustworthy, so I went up for her." Erio said simply.

"From what I heard it got a little heated." Fate remarked studying him as he stood there.

"Oh yes!" Lutecia giggled, a huge smile illuminating her face till it practically glowed. "Erio made quite a stand for my honor."

"I-I helped to." Caro blurted out "Its only natural that he would because he's you're friend." She went on putting a very tiny emphases on the word 'friend' that only Fate caught.

"At first they weren't going to let her off." Erio went on. "But then Megan started talking. She got really fired up and reminded them of her record with the TSAB. She said that if they didn't free her daughter then it would mean spiting on the years of service she had given and on the names of her old squad members who had died."

"Wow." Fate said slowly, turning to Megan who was looking slightly embarrassed. "You must have made quite a speech to turn the court like that."

"It was nothing.' Megan said softly. "I just reminded them that if the daughter of a TSAB agent who was injured fighting Jail, was cut of from the rest of society because of threat to my safety when she was young, then Jail has still not finished hurting his victims."

Fate nodded. Lutecia had not always been friends with the Takamachi's. In truth they had met years ago during the Jail Scaglietti incident, when the man had held her mother hostage in return for her services as a powerful summoner. To young to seek consider another option, and fearing for her mothers safety she had complied, and become one of the TSAB's enemies during the incident. It was for this that she had been sentenced to confinement on Carnaaji, and it had taken a lot to end it.

"Well, it's good to see that the people remember their protectors." Fate said. "And can still tell the difference between a little girl and a menace." She smiled at Lutecia. "Remember what people went through to get you here when you go to school alright?"

Luticia nodded, looking a little more serious than she usually was under Fates challenge. The next moment she was happy again, Erio starting on the story of how it was that they had decided to return in the first place, the adults and children both pitching in nearly equal amounts as the story went on.

They stayed for hours, the sun climbing higher and higher in the sky as they talked, the night before, with its fear and danger feeling very very far away to all of them. With her whole family there, and her two older charges back from their travels after so long Fate found the feeling of warmth that was pervading the room to be irrepressible, the concerns that she had for the incident not enough to damper the return of her two children and their friend.

It was nearly two and a half hours before they were interrupted, a sharp knock on the door cutting across the room. Shamal went to answer it and when she did they were greeted by Signum standing in the door wearing her brown armed force uniform and looking grim. The whole room turned towards her and her expression eased into a small smile as they greeted her, Caro and Erio both rushing over and giving her salutes.

"Well, I see you haven't forgotten your protocol when you were away at least." Signum said in a stern voice, only the barest hint of difference in her tone letting them know that she was in fact quite pleased to see them.

"Not at all, Mam." Erio said brightly looking up at his old sparing partner. "They ran us just as hard as the force did on that preserve. And even if they didn't we wouldn't have forgotten what you made us do."

Signum smiled for real this time, looking down at the two carefully. It was something that was no longer as easy, while Caro had hardly grown two inches since she had joined the force all those years ago, Erio was now quite tall, coming up to Signums eyebrows now and threatening to surpass her some day.

"Welcome back to Crannagan. Though you may have chosen a dangerous time to return." She said, her voice carrying the slightest hint of an edge, though her smile stayed steady.

"You mean the incident right?" Caro asked, her face going serious at the statement.

Signum gave a nod and walked past them, striding over to Fates bedside and giving a brief smile and nod to Lutecia and Megan before she turned to Fate. "Fate, we need to speak."

Fate gave a reluctant nod. "Nanoha? Vivio and the others should wait in the hall."

"Wait!" Erio said. "You aren't leaving us out! We were listening to stuff like this years ago, just because we're civilians now doesn't mean that the Scaglietti incident never happened!"

Signum nodded. "I think the time that these two were treated as children in such matters was years ago. Military history aside they have already done enough to make them worthy of inclusion by Belkan standards."

"Its true Fate." Nanoha said. "It would unfair to exclude them from this."

Fate sat back in bed looking at her two children. Were it any other incident she would have said yes immediately. She had been younger than they were during the Scaglietti incident, when she had first started undertaking dangerous missions. They had faced more than most enforcers ever did in fact, an impressive claim. At this point they could probably be leading squads to apprehend the criminals.

She found that it did not much change her desire for them not to get involved though. This time was different. When she looked at Erio and thought of him becoming involved the vision of Rider recalled itself to her mind, her long flawless violet hair flowing around her as she tried to impale her body with those nails, her fearsome strength hammering against her sword. A monster like that could kill Erio. And while her son was a fighter that made even Signum proud he was not yet as fast or as good with his weapon as she was... if it had been a close call for her then how would her son fight a something like that?

It was with a distinct chill that the image of Erio being devoured in the same way that the girl had invaded her mind.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha said urgently, making her look up. Nanoha was looking at her with a concerned expression. "Are you all right?"

"Yes..." she said gazing at her three children. "Alright. Erio and Caro can stay Vivio you go wait in the hall."

"But Fate Mommy!" Vivio whined starting to make dewy eyes at her mother.

"Now Vivio!" Fate said, her voice harsher than she meant it to be. Vivio drew back stunned at the harshness from the one who was usually intent upon spoiling her.

"I think I will watch them." Megan said taking Vivio by the hand. "Come on Lutecia."

"Eh? What?" Lutecia made out. "What? do you mean I have to go to?"

"Lutecia, I do not think that a girl your age, **especially** one who is trying to avoid having a criminal sentence for terrorism re-invoked, needs to sit in on a discussion involving an active criminal investigation." Signum said somewhat sardonically.

"Indeed." Her mother said, a severe tone making its way into her tone for the first time any of the people in the room aside from Lutecia could remember. "Regardless of what happens you at least will not be involved in this after what you just escaped from."

Lutecia's head swiveled back and fourth between Sigum and her Mother two or three times, coming to rest once on Erio before her shoulders drooped and she made her way out of the room with Vivio, both of them sulking as they went. Megan turned and gave Signum a simple curtsy before she followed the two out, shutting the door behind her with a 'click'.

Signum regarded Fate speculatively, her eyes lingering on her cheek and then trailing down her body in much the same way that Nanoha had when she had first entered.

"You look to be no worse for wear." She said. "The healers did a good job, I saw your fight recording from Bardiche, so did Hayate and several of the members of the High Council."

"What?" Nanoha said, alarm taking hold of her the reaction mirrored by Erio and Caro. "What exactly happened last night?"

"Fate engaged one of the terrorists last night. A purple hared woman who identified herself Rider." Signum said pulling up a chair and siting down as she did so.

"Who ever she was she was very strong." Fate said continuing where she felt Signum had left off."She was fast, faster than me until I unleashed Sonic Dirve."

Everyone in the room except for Signum gasped. "What!" Erio yelled, his eyes widening. "She was faster than you?"

Fate nodded. "At first" She repeated in a low voice. "She was stronger than me as well, almost as strong as Signum. I did not want to trouble you before, but I was nearly defeated last night. I was not able to turn the tide until I went all out with Riot Zamber."

"Fate.." Nanoha said slowly looking at her partner, here eyes only marginally less wide than Erio's. "What does this mean?"

"It means that we are facing a force of Terrorists who have Mages fighting for them who are comparable to the Wolkenritter in strength." Signum declared, her voice like stone. The statement seemed to resound through the room, making Caro and Erio's mounts fall open, uncomprehending.

"Stronger... Stronger than you Signum?" Caro choked out weakly.

"I did not say that." She said quickly "Only that they would be able to fight on our level."

Caro made another small choking noise looking scared of what the pink hared Knight was saying.

"Don't worry" Signum went on standing up and walking over to Caro to lay her hand on her head. "I don't think that they're strong enough to kill the General of the Burning Sword." She said referring to herself. " Or Fate for that mater, not unless they get a few more centuries of experience under their belts."

"oh." Caro said quietly. Not looking as reassured as Signum had hoped she would be.

"But even if one of them is as strong enough to fight Fate, why do they think there are more?" Erio asked, feeling like he was missing parts of the story. "Mages of mothers power, well, there aren't very many of them, especially outside of the TSAB. It would be impossible for a terrorist origination that we have never heard of to command more than a few S ranked Mages."

"Unlikely, not impossible." Signum corrected him. "There **are** such organizations active even today that are bent on evil."

"...The Huckebein." Erio said darkly after a little.

"Who?" Caro asked nervously, again looking between Erio and Signum.

"A criminal "Family" said to have many strong members, that has been terrorizing Non-administered worlds for the past few years." Signum filled her in. "That was one theory put forward, but it does not pan out. The Huckebein rarely come near the TSAB, they stick mostly to the fringes. They would not launch an assault against against our capital. Moreover none of the criminals in this case match any of the profiles that we have amassed on the Huckebein."

"Hmm, then its no one we know of?"Erio pressed feeling rather defeated.

"It seems so." Signum said.

"In that case I don't think they could have more than one or maybe two powerful Mages, we would have heard of them." He insisted.

"The evidence suggests that there are at least two, probably three, possibly more." Signum went on, driving over Erio's protests.

"M-more than three?" Cao murmured looking unnerved.

"A few days ago there was a fight in front of a warehouse in central Mid. Subaru was involved, the squad of Ground Force Soldiers that she was supporting lost about half their number including the commander in fight with a Mage using a red spear like armed device. He engaged and defeated Subaru- don't worry she is all right." Signum said, breaking of suddenly towards the end when Erio and Caro had begun to become alarmed. "We have the record of the combat, the opponent, whoever he is, was excellent, displaying mastery of both speed and spear fighting. Oddly enough he was first found fighting this "Rider" character, so we think that there is more than one faction at work here. Whoever he is though he will be a tough opponent. Aside from that however my suspicions of their being more, are mostly my own instincts. A few night's ago a lab was broken into and a party of security guards were killed when they attempted to apprehend the intruder, they were stabbed to death with a knife like weapon."

"The Rider woman used nails." Fate offered drearily. Listening to such a recap was depressing.

"True, but I don't think that this was the same person." Signum said. "What with all the murders going on around such a wide area I think that there are three at least."

"But you have no way of telling that the third is as strong as the other two!" Erio insisted, looking as though he did not like the conclusion that Signum was arriving at one bit.

"True but I think that they are."She answered. "Their actions so far speak of a person or organization that is completely confidant in themselves. They would conduct themselves so brazenly in the heart of the TSAB otherwise, such confidence speaks of power."

"But if they have Mages as strong as that." Nanoha interjected, feeling like bugs were crawling up her spine, (It was the Scaglietti incident all over again)"Then the Enforcers wont be enough. Not the ones currently stationed...They must realize this."

"Indeed." Signum said. "And that is why appropriate measures are being taken as we speak, After viewing last nights combat footage the High council has given Hayate the green flag to call in more Enforcers as well as Special Force Teams."

"Special Force Teams? You mean like the one that Megan used to be on?" Caro piped up.

"Yes and like the one that we were on." Erio affirmed, nodding. It made sense. Tackling high powered Mages could be difficult even for Enforcer teams sometimes. Occasionally, if there was a particularly powerful criminal on the lose, one that even the Enforcers were having trouble with, a Special force Team would be sent in. They were small teams of elite, high powered Mages usualy in the upper A and even S ranks who were used to deal with the most dangerous situations. Rampaging Lost Logia, organized terrorist groups, major disasters in space were all part of their profile. Although officially an extension of the Enforcer organization they employed Mages from all branches of the Armed forces and occasionally even civilian collaborators. It was no secret that Fate, Signum and Nanoha had all been part of several in the past.

"So." Erio said, starting to suspect where this was going. "They want Fate to join the Special Force Teams?" It was a rhetorical question, of course they would want them, Fate was one of the Best enforcers that the TSAB had ever seen in this generation. Even Signum, who was the stronger combatant did not have some of whatever it was that made Fate excel at her job so.

"Not exactly." Signum said throwing Erio off track for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past few minutes.

"What do you mean Signum?" Fate asked giving her a odd look.

"The TSAB High council has determined that you are not to be integrated into the current forces engaged in the case. You are to report to the Long Arch facility as soon as possible and take command there under Hayate."

"Wait a minute." Erio gasped "The Long Arch? You mean..."

"Yes." Signum said softly with something like a smile "By order of the TSAB high council Riot Force 6 is to be recommissioned."

*Scene *

Sunlight streamed in through the window of the house catching all the tiny little partials of dust as they floated freely lazily through the air, some settling slowly on the golden brown carpet and furniture or catching some imperceptible air current to fly up and stick to the ceiling, most just drifting in between.

Rin sniffed slightly and resisted the urge to sneeze. While not at all comparable size wise to her Manor back in Fuyuki, the house that she had commandeered as her temporary hideout and workshop was similar in many ways. The ceiling was quite high for one thing, a wedge shaped roof that gave a sense of scale that the house did not really possess and reminded her of her old western style home. Secondly and more importantly the place smelled like a Magus workshop. There was quite simply something in the air, a slightly musty closeness perhaps that spoke of a reclusive place where one was free to conduct whatever research they wished in peace. This was partly because of the dust and partially because of the disproportionately small number of windows.

Either way, Rin liked it and had 'persuaded' the family who occupied it to take a long trip out of town and leave it in her care. Some people might have felt guilt about this but as Rin saw it it was actually to their benefit. As far as she could tell they had had no plans to leave before and if things kept going the way they were (which they would) the city was about to get a lot more dangerous. No place for a family with three children.

True to her intuition so far it had proven to be a good stronghold, not to far from the center of the city yet out of the way enough for it to not be an obvious hideout the surprisingly homey two storied house had so far served her purpose well. Now to see if it kept on serving her well or whether that was just a result of having not done to much yet.

Because so far most of her effort had been put, not into finding the Grail but determining something.

Rin scowled as the ran her finger down the length of the mettle rod, the Prana from her finger making the metal split evenly, effectively cutting a surgical incision into the staff-like mystic code that she had laid on the table in front of her. About four feet long including the dark metallic head of the thing set with what looked like a small circular blue glass, the strange code dubbed a "Storage Device" was a key component of the mystery she was attempting to unravel. As far as she could tell all or nearly all of the Magi in this place used them or something like them to work their impossible Magecraft and if that was true then they had to be a key in solving the mind-boggling puzzle that was the Magecraft of this place.

Sooner or later once they had parted ways all of the crusaders had realized that Magic was public knowledge in the city of Crannagan and it had come with varying degrees of shock for all of them. Most of the Servants had lived during a time when magic was public knowledge anyhow and so were not greatly impressed. The Master's however were another can of worms. Raised from birth to always, always, ALWAYS keep their powers secret on pain of death the casual nature with which magic was treated here was a jarring shock to them. Sooner or later however shock wears off, and when there is a goal to pursue no one can shrug of surprise on like a Magus. Sufficient to say that after a day or two all of the Masters had adjusted to the shift in situation and were back to trying to accomplish their various objectives.

Not Rin Tosaka though.

Maybe it was because of her stubborn nature, maybe it was because she had taught Magecraft at the Clock Tower for years and knew more about the rules of Magic than most, or maybe it was because finding out how the TSAB worked was part of her goal in the first place but either way she had been unable to take the revelation laying down.

And so she had set about investigating.

It had been frustrating at first, with few leads but she had caught on eventually, a very enlightening conversation with a elementary school magic teacher (They taught Magic here in public schools, good lord!) she had cornered providing her with her first real source of solid information. For one, she had determined that there was simply no way that the Magecraft used by the TSAB and the Magecraft used by the Magi of earth were the same. It was a start, for one thing according to established theory Magecraft flowed from the Source of All Things meaning that the more Mages there were the weaker Magecraft became for everybody. On earth this was an accepted fact, and one of the reasons that small time practitioners were looked down upon. After all if there were a lot of people running around using Magic with only a few magical circuits to their name then they would eventually dilute the powers of the ones who could really profit from the Art.

That rule certainly did not seem to apply here. With thousands, possibly tens of thousands or even more Mages reputedly running around in every societal function from management to plumbing (Okay that was unlikely but _still_) it seemed to her that Magic had become so commonplace here that it was no longer considered very special. That left a few options. One, either the Magic used here was drawn from a different source, or two: It was not magic at but something completely different, if similar looking, possibly even (as terrifying as the thought was) a relative or watered down version of True Sorcery.

So far most of what she had discovered pointed towards the first possibility. The teacher she had talked with (Under the impression he was speaking simply to a curious woman from an non-administered world, (Technically true)) had called the source of Magic a "Linker Core" and described it as an ethereal organ inside oneself that a Mage drew their power from. The man had not even heard of Magical circuits and had given her a strange look when she had tried to reconcile the Linker Core as another name for them. Almost definitely different sources.

The Linker Core was according to the teacher, a singular point from which one drew all of their Magical power, and while he had admitted that it could be a painful process to master if one overdid it, in general he had painted a very easy and almost child friendly picture of Magic.

This contradicted everything that Rin knew about Magic Circuits. Painful and dangerous to unlock and use Magcal circuits were like groups of wires that ran through the soul of a Mage, allowing them to Chanel Mana or Od alternatively to manipulate the world around them. Unlike Linker Cores, which could apparently be regenerated repeatedly in case of damage, they could never be repaired if damaged and could in some circumstances cause death if overused. Linker cores could apparently also kill their users if overtaxed but from the description given they could be pushed much farther than Magical circuits could, and only threatened individuals with extremely high potential.

Rin didn't like it, over all it painted what was surely a deceptively easy picture of a system in which Magic was no big deal, an easily controlled, simply learned skill that could be used by most anyone who had a measure of potential.

Aside from this there were a few other things she was tying to figure out. It appeared as though the energy that Linker cores utilized and the Prana that Magical Circuits manipulated were different fundamentally. For one the Mages of the TSAB seemed to be able to do some things that were nearly impossible for Magi relatively easily. Flying was one of the more extreme examples of this, so extreme in fact that Rin had quite simply not believed it. That was until she ad seen it through the eyes of one of her hawk familiars. That had been a long night.

But the thing that she was working on right now was one of the aspects of the TSAB's Magic that still puzzled her. According to the teacher and to several other people who she had gotten to answer her questions (through one way or another) every Mage in the TSAB used one of the Mystic Codes that was on the table before her. When she had inquired as to why it had been explained to her that most spells required complicated mathematical computation that was simply to advanced for the human brain to process effectively, so in order to overcome this the Mathematics were shuffled off to what was simply called a Magical Device, a metallic looking staff like thing that could only be a Mystic Code.

And so she was taking one apart in the upstairs Guest Bedroom that she had converted into a Workshop.

Peeling back the metal case Rin crinkled her nose as the Device reveled itself to be composed n the inside by what looked like countless blue panels. She froze momentarily as she looked down at them, she might be bad with technology , and they might be Blue instead of green but she knew what the little electronic things were.

"Keyboards!" Rin ground out, her voice an angry gasp. "They're building Mystic Codes out of keyboards?"

"Well, at least this explains why the structural analysis was so garbled." She muttered to herself, her temper becoming a black cloud to hover over her head as she stewed over the new development.

Keyboards meant only one thing; technology. How she hatted the word. It had been bad enough when she was younger but in the past few years it seemed like technology had truly become inescapable outside of the Mages Association, relentlessly invading the lives of everybody like some awful plague that forced you to deal with things that seemed to neither make any sense or have any bearing whatsoever on the real world. And now not even Mystic Codes were safe! How was she to figure out how the TSAB Magecraft System worked if all of their stuff seemed to be tied down with technology?

"This is the Final straw." She muttered griping the sides of the table, the black cloud above her head starting to flash with lightning as her temper grew. It was all getting to weird for even her, the more she investigate things the more questions arose in her mind. What was that? And what relation did this have to such and such? And how would the Association react? Whatever the answers were the problem had jut crossed the threshold of her patience. This was a job for a team of Magi researchers in a lab deep inside the Clock Tower Facility with a few years of time and resources to figure things out, not for her to puzzle over deep inside of enemy territory (though she reflected with a touch of pride that she had probably done quite well with what she had.)

Snatching the Magical device off the table she threw it none to gently into a trunk by the wall and left the room shutting the door behind her loudly. It wasn't like the neighbors were going to hear or anything, not with her wards up.

Rin walked down stairs and headed into the kitchen to fix herself something, it was 1:00, and just about lunch time in her book, besides she could use something after the brainstorm she had just had upstairs.

Reaching the Fridge she paused as her eye caught a little stick note pinned to it with an arrow pointing to the left towards the counter. Rin looked over curiously and gave a grunt of pleasant surprise. Laid out on the counter was a plate of nice looking sandwiches complete with little olives stuck on toothpicks. On another sticky pad next to it was another little note that read "Don't forget to check for poison." in Archers familiar neat handwriting.

Rin couldn't help but smile as she picked one up. Really, Archer knew how to be thoughtful and mildly witty at the same time, though some would have just called it sarcasm.

She grabbed the plate and taking it into the living room she plopped down on one of the easy chairs and started eating, pausing for a second in a fit of irrational suspicion to sniff them as the note had suggested. Detecting nothing she chided herself for her paranoia and bit into the first sandwich. Rin gave a grunt of satisfaction as her Servants skill in the kitchen again made itself evident. Things were bad, but at least she could go through them with a good chef at her back. That was something. Come to think of it, she didn't think that even Shirou had ever been able to cook as good as Archer did. It was a close comparison but it swung in Archers favor ever so slightly, she decided. Swallowing her mouthful and taking another she closed here eyes and focused her mind a little, taping into the senses of her familiars. Back in the last war she would never have multitasked in such a manner but after years of practice, tuning in to her familiars had become second nature, and she was even able to do so when walking or reading. Rin found it a very useful skill, and only slightly distracting.

Chewing as her vision changed from the eyes of one familiar to he next paused as she reached the one that was monitoring the grounds of one of the TSAB's outposts. There were ranks of what she recognized as their version of Enforcers forming and facing what looked to be an officer of some kind.

The TSAB was getting more and more serious, every day now that she had monitored their central office in the aria there had been more and more of them arriving.

Rin felt something like a chill go through her. Before long this city was going to look like a war zone, and she had no doubt about who was going to be on the hurting side of it. After all, Mortals could not contend with Servants.

She broke her link and looked up as her bounded field suddenly alerted her to a familiar presence approaching the house. It appeared that Archer was coming back. Rin closed her eyes and willed the defenses surrounding the house to admit him without friction, the bounded fields adjusting themselves ever so slightly to allow the Servant to pass through while astralized.

The next second Rin felt something like a wind enter the room and Archer was quite suddenly standing in front of her, his red shroud draped over him like always, his face set in a grim line.

"Archer, Report." She intoned. He was back several hours earlier than he had said he would be from scouting out the territory and trying to locate the other Masters, something the two of them had agreed earlier on was imperative.

"I have made contact with Lancer and his Mistress." Archer said, his expression betraying the barest hint of a smile. "They want to work with us."

"Eh?" Rin snorted. "Bazett wants to work with us?" Tapping the side of her jaw speculatively Rin cast her eyes downward. Truthfully she had not expected something like that, in the last war Lancer had been an independent, working alone and scorning help of any kind, a vicious lone wolf kind she could honestly not see partnering with. On the other hand that had admittedly been under Kotomine, and she had in fact met Bazett, the Lancer Servants original and current Master in the years after the war...

"I don't think that you would work well with that Servant, Archer. He had it out for you in the last war, he will have it out for you again. You know what his legend is." Rin said frowning at the prospect of working with one who had tried to spit the two of them like pigs the last time they had met.

"Perhaps not if we could channel his battle lust elsewhere." Archer replied."The TSAB could serve as a ready outlet for him to focus on."

Rin shook her head. "That wont work, fighting Magi will only make him more eager to go after what he would view as a more worthy opponent. He wouldn't be satisfied just fighting Mortals. It would only whet his appetite." She sighed, her voice sour as she bit the inside of her lip. "Really, I can understand that the Grail founders didn't want the Grail dismantled but did they really have to go this far? Its ridiculous." She muttered. "This many Servants running around. They should have know that they would still be more interested in fighting each other that concentrating on an objective that a lot of them don't even want."

Archer smiled briefly and leaned back against the wall, his grim face curling into his usual sardonic expression from the last war.

"You forget Master, Lancer is still the Servant, he will maintain himself if his Master is on good terms with us. You said that you know this Bazett?"

"Yes, well, I have met her that is." Rin said catching on. It was true. Unlike Lancer Bazett was a very steady person, if what she knew of her was true. Besides, one did not become an Enforcer by being flighty. "Yes, from what I know Bazett would make a good ally." She admitted reluctantly. "She would probably also be able to keep Lancer in line."

Archer nodded but looked at Rin with a measuring sort of regard. " But that is not what bothers you is it?"

Rin scowled at him. Her lips coming together in a pout. "No it's not." She admitted, irritation coloring her voice. "What bothers me is that last time we got into a alliance the fool involved got himself captured and you wound up dead because of it."

Archer chuckled slightly. "Well to be fair." He said, "That was a one of a kind fool. I doubt we will encounter someone as stupid as he was in this conflict."

Rin nearly laughed but then stopped. Archer's voice had contained a touch of real venom in it and he had had shifted his head to the side for a moment, his face bearing a twisted look that she could not place. It was gone the next.

_He is still bitter about the last war_, she thought. _Probably even more than I am..._

"In any case we need allies." Archer went on. " You may not have realized this yet Master, but there is something about this place. There are powerful opponents here. I do not think that this many Servants would have been called forth of there were only simple Magi here to oppose us."

"Perhaps..." Rin said hesitantly "I don't suppose that the Grail just summons a predetermined number of Servants in response to any threat?"

"Its a possibility but one that we must not depend on." Archer said. "In any case even if there are only Magi here it is still more than enough to warrant our full attention. Maybe it is because of my relatively... humble powers, but I have never considered myself invincible even when fighting the weakest opponents." Looking directly at Rin again Archer put deadly emphasis into his voice, Making Rin sit up slightly straighter. "This is not something that many of the others realize. Rin, we cannot fight a planet on our own. We must work quickly and get what we came for before the TSAB locks this entire city down to find us."

Rin nodded softly, feeling suddenly embarrassed and foolish. She had, she realized, thought that they were invincible, and hearing her Archer say otherwise like a bucket of cold water. Now that she thought about it he was right. Even if the Servants were pretty much untouchable all the TSAB would have to do would be neutralize the Masters and it would be over.

"What we need to do now is to find someone who we can fall back on. Preferably a third Servant as well to tie it up."

"But if you wanted a team up then why did you support that idiot Hedge Mage leaving with Saber?" Rin said exasperated. "She's our most important ally!"

"My opinion on that still stands. If the Master is unwilling then it does not mater how well we know the Servant."

Rin gave a huge sigh, draping her hand over her face as she sunk in her chair. "Well then, lets go meet the Irish."

It took a while to get to the place that Bazzet had arranged on. Rin changing out of the casual red shirt and black skirt that she had been wearing and into her more formidable brown and crimson long jacket that she still favored for outings. It was a long way over, and she refused to let Archer carry her, instead hailing a cab to take her to the vicinity in which they would meet.

Leaning her head against the side of the window as the cab took her through the winding streets of the residential areas and into the more developed center, she could not help but look at the City with new eyes. If them TSAB decided to lock the city down and impose martial law then the entire city could become a sprawling mass of combat Magi, at which point Noble Phantasms would come out at which point the TSAB would probably respond with... She didn't know, but it would not be good, and many innocent people would die. _Just like they are dieing now_ an unpleasant voice in the back of her head whispered. She shook the herself. If Caster, and whatever monster was kidnapping children kept this up then they were going to consider martial law a lot faster than if those two were not pulling off vile crimes for their own gain.

The cab dropped her of in front of a modest looking hotel. She sniffed at it as the presence of Archer settled behind her. Bazett it seemed had discretion, something that not many well to do Magus could claim.

Stepping in through the door, Rin around once before spotting the familiar figure that was waiting for her in the corner of the small lobby.

Bazett Fraga McRemits was an old hand from Mages Assaciation, an Mage from Ireland Bazett was a member of the ancient and reclusive McRemits clan. With a genealogy of Magi that went all the way back to the Age of gods the McRemits were some of the last pure blooded practitioners of the ancient Runic Magic, a system of Magecraft that utilized what could only be described as low key Divine Letters to bring about their sorcery. Runes were an alphabet of symbols that went far back into the mists of time when the mundane and the Magical were not so distinct. Still maintaining echoes of their old mystic authority, Runes were one of the last corporeal magic systems left on the planet and with practice it was possible use them to channel Prana like one would with a Spell.

An old and rather rusty art, it was practiced by few, though the family's that did were **very** proud. Cultivating tradition strongly even by Maugs standards the practitioners kept to themselves mostly, studying the old ways and trying to keep to old power alive, a memory from an age when myths walked the earth.

It was from this background the Bazett had sprung, attaining a excellent grasp of her art and then leaving her Family behind to joining the Mages Association as an Enforcer. She had been good at it and carved out a reputation as a solid member of the Mage's Associations police branch.

Then the 5th Grail war had started and her history took a turn for the weird.

Rin had learned during the War that Kirei Kotomine had assassinated Lancers original Master early on, acquiring the fercley independent Servant through naked force. Bazett, Lancer's first Master, had been slain and her Command Seals surgically removed by the twisted man. Her arm severed at the elbow Bazett had apparently been left to die while Kirei walked away with the Servant that she had brought fourth.

Somehow though the iron willed woman had lived, turning up alive a few months after the war. How she had done it Rin could only guess, though there were a few rumors that said she had been taken in and saved by another Priest or Maugs at the last minute and nursed back to health. What impressed Rin though was that she had known Kirei for a long time, he was not the kind to leave someone left for dead at the bottom of a cliff or something, that Bazett had survived in itself was a testament to unusual events.

"Bazett." She said nodding to the tall stern faced woman who was looking back at her carefully. Bazett was a tall woman of impeccable posture and neatness, a willowy figure that was eternally outfitted in a formal three piece suit. Her hair was of an unnatural shade as sometimes occurred among Magi, a trademark of long use of powerful Magecraft, it hung about her head, short and almost startlingly violet, framing her sharp, rather cold face. It was a face that might once have been pretty had it smiled more, though now that chance was probably lost forever as the owner of the face swiftly approached middle age with less than optimal grace.

"Rin Tosaka" Bazett nodded stiffly in return. "I take it that you brought your Servant?"

"Of course." Rin returned crisply. "Lancer is here as well I presume?"

Bazett nodded again and then gestured to one of corridors.

Rin followed the violet haired woman through the inn and then upstairs to passing several doors before she stopped in front of one, ran her card through the lock and stepped inside, the door swinging open with a click.

_If Lancer is on the other end of this door waiting to stab me then I'm dead. There's no way around that. _The question of weather she being to trusting or not flashed through her mind.

Looking around as she stepped inside, the hotel room was a simple standard two bedroom affair, with nothing to suggest the lair of a Magus and with no Bounded fields and what felt like a single ward it was nothing more than a simple meeting place, probably rented that very day.

"This room has been sound proofed?" Rin asked giving it a quick look around. It was one of those hotel rooms that seemed to be the same no matter where one went, on earth or of of it, earth-toned carpet and pictures of ships at sea hung on the white walls.

"Yes." Bazett said shortly, walking over and and standing by one of the cushy chairs that was set against the wall.

"I see." Rin started, trying to smile. "It's been some years since I last talked with you Miss McRemitz. It's encouraging that someone of your... caliber is in this with us. You wanted to negotiate with me about cooperation?"

"Yes." Bazett said nodding sharply. "I believe that it is time the two of us began to approach this systemically. My Servant is powerful but we lack the ability's to locate the Grail with what we have. You on the other hand are quite suited for things of that nature, while your Archer Servant lacks the power needed to directly assault a stronghold of the strength that the Grail is most likely being held inside."

Rin nodded slowly. In actuality she was quite confidant of Archers ability's, in and out of melee, but there was no reason to let her possible future partner know that.

The fact was that after the Grail War Bazett had gone on to become one of the best Enforcers that the Mages Association had at their disposal, rising beyond competence to becoming something of a legend of her own. The Irish Rune user who would take down any opponent, no mater how skilled or strong, with her martial art's. Be they Human, Magus or even Dead Apostle.

An aliance with one such as her would be a lucrative prospect. One which would allow Rin to support the more combat orientated Master with her powerful Magecraft, while Archer could support Lancer from behind. The artillery that would demolish the enemy before the warhound went in and mopped the floor with whatever was left of the resistance.

"In that case the two of us think alike. We have only so much time before the Magi who govern here lock the city down and force the Crusade to escalate. " Rin said looking Bazett dead in the eye.

The Irish woman nodded back. "For now we will keep in close touch, I will meet you in front of this building tomorrow."

"Understood. From their we can hammer out our battle plan." Rin said.

Slowly the two approached each other, crossing the room tentatively they came within arms distance and extended their hands, shaking formally a few times before letting go.

"Well in that case I need to introduce myself to the new Lady!" A voice suddenly blurt out. With a slight shimmer Lancer suddenly materialized in the air behind Bazett and strode forward boldly toward Rin grinning wildly as he did so.

"Lancer!" Bazett shouted. The next second Lancer stopped, his grin wider than ever as Archer appeared behind Rin in response, his two swords materializing with him but held downward in a non threatening position.

A moment later Lancer's weapon appeared in his hands to, the red shaft of Gea Bolg held at an angle to prevent it from gouging a hole in the ceiling and to keep it in a non threatening position as well.

"So you are the one I'm going to be working with." He said speaking to Archer jovially. "I just hope you are fast enough to keep up." He glanced down at Rin and winked. "In more ways than one."

Rin felt herself blush suddenly. Maybe this alliance, despite all its tactical advantages, was not such a good idea after all.

*Scene *

(four days ago, Fuyuki City)

The wind blew lightly though the streets, ruffling the hair of the pedestrians that crowded along the sidewalk. It had been bright and sunny all day long and the sun seemed to go down slowly in the distance, unwilling the relinquish its hold on the earth after such a glorious reign that day. Along the sidewalk with the countless people around her Suzuka Tskimura watched the sliver of gold slip below the horizon. Her sister had been right she decided as she plodded along keeping an eye out for her destination, Fuyuki city could be very beautiful.

Walking along, and swaying her purse and small suitcase lightly from side to side as she did so Suzuka smiled again as she spotted the hotel she looking for.

Walking in though the double doors she found herself in a well lit entrance room typical of small time hotels.

"Excuse me?" She said walking up to woman behind the front desk. "I'm Suzuka Tskimura, um, I'm looking for my Sister Shinobu and an Arisa Bannings. They should have checked in by now."

Nodding slowly the woman behind the desk flipped through a book of what looked like lists of names as Suzuka stood there smiling brightly and rocking back and fourth on the balls of her feet as she waited.

"I'm sorry." The woman said flatly as she finished looking. "We don't have anyone by that name here."

"What?" Suzuka cried leaning over the counter in disbelief, much to the annoyance of it's patron. "But they should have been here hours ago. They said they would be waiting."

"I'm sorry." The woman said. "But you friends are not here Miss, you may want to contact them if there is some sort of mix up."

Nodding helplessly once or twice Suzuka turned from the desk and sat down in the corner wondering if she should stand outside the door to look for them. She sat there for a few minutes wondering what could have happened when suddenly her cellphone rang. She nearly slapped herself on top of the head as she reached for it. How was it that her cellphone was not the first thing she thought of? Answering it quickly she was relived to hear the familiar voice of her sister. "Suzuka? It's me Shino."

"Ah! Yes, Shinobu where are you two? I'm at the hotel in Fuyuki but you aren't not here. Its getting kind of late, are you alright?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line for a moment before her sister spoke back up. "I'm really sorry Suzuka, but we've had something of a car accident."

"WHAT!" Suzuka yelped, her voice becoming a shriek that made the woman at the front desk whip her head around.

"Suzuka please! We are quite all right, don't yell." Her sister made out hastily on the other end.

"What do you mean that you got in a car accident!_"_ She made out attempting to modulate her voice and only half succeeding.

"Calm down Suzuka, we are perfectly all right. We got into a little collision on the way over, we ran the car off the road, no one is hurt, I think Arissa bruised her knee a little but other than that we are perfectly all right."

"Okay...okay." She said slowing down and trying to calm herself. It was nothing after all, just a minor collision, no one was hurt. "Is the car alright?"

There was another pause. "Well... its not to bad but we are not going to be able to come... I'm sorry Sis."

Suzuka felt her spirits fall a little before she shook herself. What was she thinking? Her closest friend in the world and her sister had just run the car of the road and had got through unscathed. "As long as you're okay that's fine." She said hoping that her voice was steady. "Are there other people around?"

"Yes, we're in good hands, I'm sorry to shut down your pre-graduation outing like this, can you make it back home tonight?"

Suzuka took a glance out the window the sun had set completely by now, leaving only a dim glow on the horizon that would soon be gone. Suzuka had never been a particularly good driver and the thought of driving home alone in the dark after her sister had run the car off the road somehow quite frankly took the spunk out of her. "Oh." She said twisting her face as she tired to work up her courage. "Umm, its getting dark and... I really don't know. I think that I'll stay here for tonight and drive home tomorrow morning."

"Alright Sis." The voice on the other end of the line came. "Well then, see you tomorrow morning."

"See you to, tell Arisa that I'm sorry about her car."

"I will. By then."

Th phone clicked as Shinobu hung up and Suzuka shuddered a little as she closed it and put it back into her pocket. Despite her sister assurances she found that she was still quite shaken up by the unexpected news.

Looking over at the woman behind the desk who was shooting her annoyed looks Suzuka stood and walked over nervously to the desk.

After paying for a room for the night Suzuka followed the slightly grumpy innkeeper up the stairs to her room and set her stuff down once she had entered. A whole weekend spoiled, she thought as she plopped herself down on the bed.

Still feeling shaken and very low in spirits she leaned against the headboard and turned on the TV, all ambition of exploring the city gone. She watched the flickering screen and thought about her cats and the upcoming end of the year until the sky was completely dark. Then shaking herself as if from an unsatisfying snooze she dressed into her pajamas and pulled herself under the covers waiting for sleep to bring back the light of the sun.

*Scene *

Unbeknownst to the girl even now drifting off to sleep inside her hotel room, to the south of the city, deep in the forest that ringed it lay a castle. Hidden from the eyes of all but a few by the surrounding woods and countless bewitchment's the phantom castle of the Einzberns was the great family's permanent outpost in the stage of the Heavens Feel. Meant to be a stronghold and a workshop for the Einzberns during the grail war the Castle was not extravagant. By Einzbens standards that was. Built from stone in the style of a traditional western castle from the medieval era and bedecked on the inside with all the furnishings and trappings of a late Victorian mansion complete with a flower garden and a wine cellar. In truth the great fortress/ house was in fact a transplanted building, having been taken from the homeland of its pale founders and reassembled there long ago so that it would carry the very essence of its homeland with it. And yet even for all of this it was a **very** humble place by the standards of the regal homunculus Lords of Europe.

Left abandoned except for what caretakers were assigned to it during the long years between the Wars, it was a Castle that saw little use by its owners for the most part.

Tonight however that was different. After seventeen years, the next generation had come back to make use of its heritage.

In the lower workshop of the castle Leberecht Illya von Einsbern stood in the middle of a large stone room before an intricate, angular formation of circles, the mystic pattern inlayed into the floor with gold. Dressed in robes of purest white and gold he cradled in his arms a book, old and immense and set with iron around the bindings. He flipped through it slowly as he stood there, his fingers lightly brushing the old pages that contained so much of the lore that belonged to his Family. Some of which was the knowledge to call forth the stepping stone that would be his means to calming his usurped Servant.

In the corner Iffeal stood waiting patently as he always did, his two slender longsword's hanging at his side as he watched his master passively.

Light only by candles that hung from the ceiling the room was partly dark, and the two homunculus cast long indistinct shadows over the floor and walls as Leberecht finished flipping through the book and settled on one page.

Reading the words on the page carefully once or twice over in his head before beginning Leberecht focused on each word carefully. There would be no need for a catalyst if his information was correct, and even on the slight chance that it was not he did not particularity care what Servant he received in the first place, after all he did not plan on keeping them terribly long anyway.

Leberecht began the chant, calling out to the Grail with his will. His family had created the artifact, had fought in every war so far, and it was with this in his mind that he read of the words written so long ago by the founders of the Heavens Feel.

In reality the chant used by the summoners was not really the incantation that summoned the Servant, having been raised for the Grail all his life Leberecht knew that the chant was more like an introduction, or a application. It was an identification process that let the Grail know that the Magi was able and willing to support a Servant and seek the artifact. The Magus cast the ritual and the Grail became alerted to their existence, deciding on the spot weather or not to bestow a Servant based on the power and feel of the Maguses Mana that went into the ritual. He had even heard that it was possible for a person to receive a Servant without calling one, and that this had happened more time's than most were readily willing to admit.

As it was, normally it was customary for the summoner to create their own version of the chant, but he found little use for such a custom. It was his ancestors who had made the chant after all, why should he change what was his?

Chanting the words out proudly and methodically, he regarded the power that begin to gather with almost bored appointment. He was the heir of the Einzbern family, the ones who created the Grail. anything but immediate acceptance was a laughable thought.

Although he would never admit it to anyone, it was at that point, when his mind wandered, that things began, quite suddenly to go wrong and upon later agonized reflection on his part (Of which there was much in the days to come) he was forced to admit to himself at least that had he been more diligent he could have prevented what happened next.

Standing there chanting, the power of a oncoming Servant filling the room, Leberecht flinched suddenly when out of the blue what seemed like a wave of Mana rippled up from underneath the earth and seemed to smash into the room sending a terrible sensation of vertigo through his artificial mind, the ether that composed his body reacting mildly with the wave of natural Mana that had seemingly invaded the room.

His voice, steady until now faltered and for a moment stopped completely.

The power that had gathered itself into the room wavered for a moment as if unsure weather to go or stay and then did something very odd indeed. It fluctuated seeming to reach out and touch him for a second before disappearing completely.

The power that fled the room, and the mysterious wave of Mana were gone as quickly as they had come leaving a stunned Leberecht standing awkwardly in the middle of the room clutching his massive book in his arms.

Leberecht stood there for a few seconds his mouth hanging open as he tried to grasp what had just happened.

There was no sign of any Servant, but contradictorily, impossibly, his Prana was being drained.

*Scene *

Sound asleep in her hotel room Suzukas eyes moved back and forth under her lids as she dreamed. She was speeding along a dark road in a car that for some reason was very hard to steer. This was not helped one bit by the continual rain of ice cubes that kept bouncing off the road and hitting her windshield, obscuring her vision as she drove along. It was all very nerve wracking and she shuddered as she steered, only vaguely registering that it did not feel real in the kind of half awareness that dreams bring on.

The scene changed suddenly and found herself side by side with Arisa Bannings on a paved cliff road looking out to sea. They were small children again and they held their breath as they looked out across the tossing waves. In the distance a dark mass stood out against the horizon, luminous, domed and terrible it gathered itself out on the horizon and seemed to suck all the air out of the world. There was no wind and even the eternal cry of the gulls was silent, the only should being the occasional pound of the sea against the rocks below them. It was the calm before the storm.

She had had this dream many times before, the moments before her friend Nanoha had fought with and defeated a corrupt magical computer program embedded into her mind forever after. It was a strange dream, not quite a nightmare even though it was a reliving of one of the the most terrifying moments of her life. The dream could be most accurately described as nerve wracking, she would stand looking out to sea, unable to move, just waiting for the distant outbreak of the battle to come. But it never would, and eventually she would wake sometimes seconds before she was sure she was about to see the battle  
begin.

Facing the sea Suzuka gazed out at the distant globe patiently waiting for inevitable moment when the dream would dissolve and she would wake to the real world.

Below her the waves crashed against the rocks again as the dome of dark energy in the distance became more vivid. It was so strange she thought, that magic could be real and yet impact her life so little. She had once been very good friends with her old schoolmate Nanoha. Perhaps not quite as close as she was with Arisa but very good friends otherwise. Now they only saw each other once or twice a year on average.

Because her old friend did not send most of her time on Earth.

It had happened in Middle school, after a string of the most bizarre events that had ever occurred to her, Nanoha and a woman that she had met briefly a few weeks before had dropped the bomb shell on her. Magic was real, and so were aliens apparently; and spaceships.

It had never... quite finished sinking in, her mind accepting the information presented to it on an intellectual level, and even truly accepting it a little from the events she had witnessed, but never completely accepting it. In the end it just had not affected he life enough to fully sink in and when she  
thought about it or even the few times she had interacted with it in the form of the free floating television like screens that she had seen from time to time, it was like it was a different world, One that was perfectly segregated from her normal life.

She breathed in the false dream smell of the sea as the waves continued to pound on the rocks below. She scratched her hand absently as she stood their looking on and then took another sniff as a small breeze stroked her face and brought another sent to her nose.

That was new, she thought suddenly as the breeze picked up. There was never any wind. Even though there had been some on that day, in the dream it was always perfectly still for some reason. Now though there was a steady breeze blowing driving away the smell of the sea and bringing with it a new sent, much sharper and more distinct. A swallow flew past her and then some leaves and all at once the view of the ocean dissolved.

She was standing in a forest, the trees and grass tall around her as she walked forward. A feeling of wonder stole down on her as she looked around. This did not feel like a dream at all, the forest and grass were nearly as vivid as real life and she could hear the thousand tiny sounds that were never  
present in dreams, noises like the creaking of the trees and the rustle of the grass as she moved through it. Suzuka found herself looking around delighted at the texture and vividness that her mind was drawing for her.

As she walked forward she became aware of another noise, louder than the others somewhere ahead of her, a series of sharp swishing sounds that repeated themselves every ten or so seconds.

Looking though the trees she realized that she was coming to the edge of a clearing as the sunlight suddenly became more intense. Peeking her way around the last trunk Suzuka stood and looked into the clearing.

In the center of a wide open circle of tall green grass stood a man with his back turned to her. His hair which was done up into a long ponytail was nearly the same exact shade of purple as her own and hung over his shoulder blending in with the matching robe-like garment that he wore. In his hands he held an  
immensely long curved sword. The hilt was held up behind his face in a peculiar striking position, the long curved blade sticking out at a right angle to him. For a split second it stayed there caching the light on the tip of its blade. Then the next instant it lashed out streaking in a blur and making a swishing noise as it cut the air. A split second later it was back in its upright position only to curve out again the next and then a third time making a distinct 'Swish, swish, swish' as it did so, three fluid strikes that lashed out from different angles.

Suzuka felt suddenly nervous, she was alone in the woods with a strange man who had a sword. Backing away slowly she prepared to turn and leave but found that she could not, her perspective refusing to obey her will and leave the clearing.

'Swish, swish swish', the sword swung out again through the air.

'Swish, swish, swish'

'Swish, swish, swish'

Suzuka scratched her hand again as she watched the man swing at nothing, his concentration so complete that he had not even noticed her at all. Birds flitted through the air above him, swallows by the look of it diving in and out of the tree tops around him and some even coming quite close. He paused in his exorcise and seemed to be waiting for something. Suzuka scratched the back of her hand again still unable to look away.

Suddenly one of the swallows in the air above him took a particularly steep dive, falling down though the air and coming within the reach of the man's sword. The moment it did so the he lashed out with mantis like speed, his sword cutting though the air in a graceful arc and then turning back in an instant to repeat the maneuver again and then once more just like all the other times, the blade of his sword becoming a streak as he slashed three times faster than Suzuka had imagined was possible. For an instant the diving swallow seemed to hang in the air as the flawless sword strikes reached out as if to pluck it gently from the sky.

Then the moment was gone, the swallow, acting perhaps on some invisible instinct took an impossibly sharp turn and flew through the net of death with a lazy flutter of its wings, passing untouched around the blue haired mans sword and then flying off back up into the trees while its brethren twittered contemptuously at the silly human in the clearing below.

The man pulled his sword back into striking position and just stood there for a moment. Then with a sigh his shoulders slumped visibly and he let his stance fall, his sword coming down to rest in the crook of his arm.

Despite not having any idea as to what any of it meant Suzuka felt a twang of disappointment at the strange man's apparent failure. Then she shook herself. What was she thinking? What was this guy trying to do anyway wasting his time standing in the middle of a field trying to kill cute little bird's? And with a sword of all things!

She supposed it was a dream but still, why do it?

The man was now taking another stance, siting down on the grass with the sword, which now lay sheathed, beside him. She watched as he put his hands against his stomach, the fingers interlocked with the thumbs pointed upwards, and begun taking deep steady rhythmic breaths.

He did this for nearly half a minute before standing once more and redrawing his sword to resume the stance that she had first seen him in. Standing there perfectly still he begun to strike at the air again like before, his sword swishing as it flitted in and out.

Scratching her hand again Suzuka tried to turn away once more and found the dream breaking up, the forest becoming hazy and dissolving as her mind suddenly registered something urgent and attempted to pull her back to reality.

She was about to go, to wake up when something stopped her. The man was turning towards her. Perhaps it was some fluke, or unevenness of the ground but for whatever reason the purple clad man turned towards her just as the dream-scape started draining him away. For a second she saw his face, pail, sharp and handsomely smooth with steady blue gray eyes that seemed to glint.

Then it was gone and Suzuka yelped and sat bolt upright in bed as the back of her hand burned with sudden intensity.

Author notes:

_Whew! I has been a long time hasn't it? Bet you though I was dead. But as you can see I'm alive. It takes more than a few distracting Forums to kill Grimgor._

_I for one thing that the Magical explanation was long overdue. In fact I want your opinion should this be moved back into an earlier chapter?_

_Oddly enough one of the things I agonized over was weather or not Vivio should use the term criminal. At first I though it sounded a little to adult but then again the TSAB throws around the word Criminal like we throw around Terrorist these days so she should know it. _

_As for Suzuka who saw that one coming? It should be pretty obvious who she is going to get, so tell me, will it make for an interesting pair? Also is my portrayal of Suzuka in character?_

_Some adressal to the spelling mistakes that frequent this story, look I really apologies for the sloppy writing. The thing you have to understand is, well, I'm Grimgor Ironhide, Im an ork warboss. I really don't write like this at all, when I write it comes out sounding orky and I have to get my grots and human slaves to translate it for me. It can be a frustrating process. _

_As for the question as to whether or not Shirou will be in this, the answer is yes. **Eventually...**_

_I forgot to mention: So yeah, not exactly an action packed chapter this one, but the next will have a fight that I have been wanting to do for a long time. It is probably not what you think either, but I am stoked.**  
**_


	11. Chapter 11 Plunge

Ch 11 Plunge

"Ouch! Oww!" Suzuka yelped, sitting up in bed quickly. Pain was lancing through the back of her hand, her tender flesh feeling almost like it was on fire for a moment. Pulling her hand out from under the covers her eyes widened and she let out a gasp even as the pain began to fade.

On the back of her hand a shining, impossibly vivid symbol had appeared. For a moment it filled her vision, it was radiant, and a light blue the color of a tropical sea, a graceful, brilliant shape that seemed to burn itself into her retina.

She blanched and clutched her hand like it was still on fire, what was going on? Somewhere between the time that she had woken up and now, a wind had filled the room. Gentle but insistent it brought with it a smell like a forest. What was going on? Had the fan somehow turned on of its own accord? Her eyes wide Suzuka pulled the covers of of herself completely and got out of bed still clutching her hand. It did not hurt anymore but she cradled it to herself like it might fall of otherwise. Hyperventilating slightly she started for the small bathroom near the door with a half formed idea of washing the strange mark of in the sink.

"Oh? So tell me girl. Are you my Mistress?"

At the sudden sound of the strange voice Suzuka gasped and wiped her head around. Standing in the corner of the room near the base of her bed was a man.

He was tall and rather slender, dressed in an elegant violet robe like outfit. His hair a long ponytail almost the same shade as hers was. It was his face that completed the picture for her however, smooth yet angular and set with two dark blue eyes that regarded her with what must have been the beginnings of amusement. It was the man from her dream.

Suzuka's felt her own eyes widened more than she thought was possible as she stepped back against the wall as far away as she could manage from the intruding stranger, her breath slowing and stopping as she did so. Yes, it was definitely the man from her dream, the hilt of the sword that poked out from behind his shoulder left absolutely no doubt that it was the same person.

The man looked bemused at her reaction, gazing down at her curiously before smiling a little, his eyes drifting down to her hand. "I assure you girl that as your Servant I mean you no-"

**"AEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" **

The man cringed a little as Suzuka threw her head back and let out a high pitched scream that she didn't even know she had in her. Grabbing the lamp on the bed stand next to her she tore it from the wall and flung it with all her might at the mans face before making a mad dash for the door still screaming bloody murder as she did so. Reaching the door she she missed the handle a few times in her haste before she was able to turn it and throw the door open and fling herself into the hall.

Not looking back she ran down the upper story hallway as fast as she could, her powerful legs propelling her across the carpet with the strength of a panicking animal and a experienced sprinter combined. There was a rustle and a few shouts as the other tenets of the hotel began to awaken and emerge at the commotion. Doors opened all over the hall, sleepy and alarmed hotel goers starting to stumble out of their rooms to see what the emergency was. Suzuka was caught off guard as a door in front of her opened suddenly and a man dressed only in his boxers and a thin t-shirt that he had apparently thrown on before emerging stepped out directly in front of her.

She plowed right into him, her last second attempt to stop herself no match for the momentum she had built up in her panic driven flight. With a surprised yell the two of them hit the floor together, Suzuka landing shoulder first on his chest and driving all the air out of his lungs as they impacted with the carpet.

"What is going on!" A voice barked out. Other voices joined in with it, some inquiring as to were the fire was.

Quickly Suzuka pulled herself off the unfortunate man she had just run run over. "OH I am so sorry! Im So sorry!" she breathed out looking down on the man who was clutching his stomach on the floor.

"Lady!" The voice came again. Turning around she found herself confronted by a short man in a bath robe who was looking at her with a crossed expression. "What is going on here?"

Striding over to her he brushed past her and knelt down by the man on the floor. "Sir are you hurt badly?"

The man on the floor shook his head briefly grimacing as he pulled himself to his feet. "I'm all right." He said clutching his chest where she had hit him hardest. "We had a bit of a accident that's all."

The hall got louder and louder as more people began to emerge from their rooms looking for the source of the disturbance.

_I knocked someone over, oh dear I knocked someone over really hard!_ She thought as she stood there quavering. She gave the man the most apologetic look she could, her eyes going all watery. The man met her gaze for a moment with a severely annoyed expression that made her want to disappeared into the floor. Seemed to realize how she felt, and his expression softened slightly "Eh.. don't worry about it." He said glancing to the side.

The shorter man gave him a brief nod and then turned back to Suzuka. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Th-there was a **strange** **man **in my room." She gasped out, breathing hard both from her run and from nerves.

"A man?" he said, other voices echoing the same as her statement swept down the hall.

"Yes!" She pressed on. "I woke up and he was standing by the foot of my bed."

The small crowd murmured, some of the glancing at one another.

"Where was this?" The man in the bath robe said drawing himself up sharply.

"Over there." Suzuka made out pointed down the hall to the open door of her room.

Most of the crowd turned to look but the man in the bath robe instead latched on to something else."What's that on your hand?"

Suzuka gave out an "Eep!" And pulled her hand back, giving it a new look. The strange mark was still there, and while no longer shining it was unmistakeably impressed upon her hand, perfectly visible in the dim light of the hall, like some arcane tattoo. She gawked at it for a moment before hiding her hand behind her back and looking up. The man in the bath robe was giving her a funny look.

"There is no one in here." Someone said, poking their head out of her open door where they had been investigating.

"W-what?" she stuttered, trembling slightly. What was going on?

Walking back towards her door with about 8 very confused people with her, she peered into her hotel room that she had just fled.

It was empty, the room completely devoid of any intruder, the only sign of what had transpired being the ruffled blankets of her bed and the lamp which lay shattered against the far wall. The fan was quite stationary.

"Did he go out the window?" Someone asked from behind her. Another man wrapped in a blanket walked past her over to the window and threw back the curtains. The window was closed firmly. Examining it closely the man turned back to them. "Its locked."

There was a short silence. Suzuka turned around nervously to regard the crowd. Had she imagined it all? Some of the people in the crowd definitely seemed to think so, a few of them looking at

her like they were dealing with a frightened little girl.

"Could he have slipped out when we were in the hall?" A woman asked, peering over the shoulder of the man in the bath robe.

"No way." One of the men answered. "I was by this door the whole time, no one left."

"What is going on here?" A new voice rang out. The crowd turned, approaching them quickly from down the hall were a middle aged man and a younger woman in employee uniforms. "Is someone hurt?"

"The girl here had a nightmare." Someone in the crowd said, irritation clear in their tone. "Thought someone was in her room."

"It wasn't a nightmare." Suzuka retorted half halfheartedly, her voice a thin quaver. "There really was someone..."

The older man in the uniform surveyed the crowd and then looked at Suzuka. Turning to the man who had been speaking earlier he addressed him: "You are absolutely positive that there was no one?"

"What? I mean... yes, there was nobody here. We would have seem him leave and the window is locked."

The man, apparently a manager of some sort frowned and looked back at Suzuka with the air of someone who's job it was to comfort a hysterical woman. "Look Miss, I'm terribly sorry about your ordeal but I'm afraid that no one was inside your room. Are you on any any medication or anything similar?"

She shook her head. Behind her back she felt the back of her hand with the other. While it felt the same as before she knew what was back there, that strange mark would still be there when she looked again.

"Alright." The man said nodding carefully and smiling at her in a comforting manner. "Okay every one." He said turning and bowing to the crowd. "I apologies for the inconvenience. We will stay and speak about this, the rest of you I would ask to return to your rooms, once again I apologize for any discomfort this may have caused you, you can make any complaints that you want in the morning."

Slowly at first but soon more and more quickly the crowd began to break up and return to their different rooms. "Well, so much for any more sleep to night!" Suzuka heard someone comment snidely as they walked past her. She hung her head feeling more and more like she wanted to disappear.

"Well, Miss, can you tell me exactly what happened?" The manager said as the crowd began to thin.

"Uhh, I... I woke up, and t-there was a... strange man at the foot of my bed." Suzuka made out feeling like she was going to come apart right there in front of him .

"I see, and what happened then?" The manager asked his voice soothing but his eyes sharp.

"Oh, Nothing." Suzuka summed up lamely, her voice barley audible. "I mean, he said something and... I threw a lamp at him and ran."

The manager turned his head looking over at the shattered lamp on the ground. "I see. Don't worry about that by the way." He tacked on the side gesturing to the piece of destroyed property.

"Oh!" Suzuka gasped looking at the ruined lamp realizing what she had done. "I-Im so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"I said don't worry about it." He cut her off. "We will take care of that latter. Now. I want you to think carefully. When you threw the lamp did you hit him?"

Suzuka lifted one finger briefly to her mouth as she tried to recall. "Yes..." She said after a little. "I think I did."

"Where do you think you hit him?" The manager pressed on.

"The...face I think." Suzuka answered reluctantly, blushing at the admission of how violent she had been.

"I see, now Miss, if you had hit him in the face then do you really think that he could have snuck out of here, past all those people without anyone noticing?"

"Oh!" She exclaimed looking down at the ground while she considered the new line of thought. "I suppose not." She admitted quietly.

"Now think, could you accept the possibility that you were having a nightmare"

Suzuka tensed slightly at the question. She had not imagined it! She couldn't have. The man had been in the room, he had even spoken to her, though what he had said she couldn't recall. She had been wide awake at the time to, the weird mark on her hand and the pain involved jolting her completely out of sleepiness before she had even laid eyes on the intruder. But still... there was no way that he could have made it out without being seen, and the dream that she had been having before had been so vivid that it had been difficult to tell from reality. Maybe it really had been her imagination. Taking her hand out from behind her back ever so slightly she risked a glance down at the mark. It was still there.

Suzuka felt like she was being torn apart inside. What she knew and what was possible were conflicting with each other in front of her eyes. She felt herself starting to hyperventilate.

"Its alright, its alright." The manager said quickly starting to look worried.

What was going on? None of it made any sense, unless. Unless...

With a flash of sudden realization Suzuka froze, her quick breathing stopping suddenly as she considered a possibility that covered both problems with her experience. What if it was one of _them_?

What if... what if one of the people like Nanoha, one of the magic users was involved?

She had know of magic for a long time, even had a registered teleportation point in her back yard and entertained guests from that other world in her own house. So why was it impossible that one of _them _was involved somehow. In that case maybe they had teleported out? She knew that was possible, had even seen it before. Or what if they had simply turned invisible and were in the room with them right now? She did not know so much about that one but she was pretty sure she had heard one of Nanoha's friends mention it sometime. And with magic who knew what was possible? Not her for certain.

"Miss, are you sure that you are okay? Would you like me to call somebody for you?" The manager asked her urgently, his tone of voice making her refocus her attention.

Suzuka shook her head. Now that she thought about it she wondered what the man had been saying. What if he had been trying to tell her something important about her friends? What if... oh any number of things was possible, how was she to know what to do?

"No...no, I'll be alright." She said trying to put a little conviction into her voice. "I'm sorry, it must have been a dream." She finished looking the Manager in the eye. He gave a small nod still looking worried.

Suzuka tried to smile. "I'm sure that I will be alright in the morning, I'm sorry that I caused so much trouble."

"Don't worry about it Miss... Ah?"

"Tsukimura."

"Miss Tsukimura, If there is anything that you need don't hesitate to inform me or the front desk. We will be over in a moment."

Suzuka nodded trying to look reassured herself. It cant have worked very well, as it was she was rather sure that her face must have looked a little green. Whatever the result was however the Manger smiled at her, gave a bow and then called to his assistant who was still in the halls making sure everyone was headed back to bed. After fetching a small vacuum from a closet down the hall the two of them proceeded to carefully clean up the remains of the shattered lamp before bowing once more to her and assuring her that if she needed anything at all they would be available. Suzuka found herself thanking them profusely, repeating "Arigatou." several times even as they went out the door for the last time. Wondering briefly if she had over done it she plopped back onto her bed and shuddered. She hoped that she was right, and she was not being stocked by some sort of super stealthy creep.

Shuddering once more she brought her hand up to her face and for the first time really examined the mark that was now emblazoned there, suppressing the chill it sent up her spine as she did so.

A beautiful light azure blue it fitted onto the back of her hand like it had been inked on by a master artist, Suzuka was never into tattoos but she reflected as she looked at this that if she had to chose one she would probably want something like this.

It was an exquisite design, an angular series of strokes that vaguely recalled a bird with its long thin wings outstretched, the body and the two wings separate from each other to form three distinct parts, one on top of the other in descending order down her hand so that the beak was pointed at her thumb. Gazing at it wondrously for a time she felt a very different kind of chill than before go up her spine. A almost daring, nervous feeling of danger that somehow was not altogether...bad.

It was a while before she stopped looking at it. Putting her hand back down on the bed next to her she looked out the window. If whoever it was had been trying to contact her then they probably would not want to return while she was inside the building, for fear of her reacting the same way the second time. As much as the thought scared her, she would probably have to leave the building.

Outside her window the night looked dark and cold. For a moment she thought very strongly of simply turning off the light, throwing the covers over her head and try to forget this entire thing until daybreak. That part was vetoed however by the part that told her quite plainly that she would never fall asleep that night unless she did something. That and the tiniest, itsy bityest speck of her that wanted to know why it was the man had come, she hardly ever got visits from that other place anymore. Maybe it was something that she needed to hear.

Turning of her light and throwing on her light spring jacket she slipped her shoes on, opened the door and tip toed out of her room into the hall. It was dark, the lights that had been turned on when she had had her outburst having been turned off afterward, with only a few dim night lights on now. As quietly as she could she made her way down the hallway and then down the stairs pausing for a moment in when she reached the lobby. She could hear the voices of the manager and the maid speaking to each other in low tones.

Suzuka waited in the hall for what seemed to her like ten minutes before the voices faded and she heard the two leave, going into the back.

As fast as she could Suzuka moved out of the hall and to the front door, opening it with a quavering hand she moved through, the bell on the door jingling uncomfortably loud as she did so. She was out, though the question of why she had not simply told the Manager that she needed some fresh air struck her as she made her way across the lot. _Stupid, stupid!_ She berated herself. _Why do I always make things more complicated than they have to be?_

Still she was outside now. And if she could just find a spot that was a little secluded she could see if the guy appeared again...

Suzuka suddenly shook her head an let out a little high pitched "Geeeeee!" Were this any other situation she would have to be a lunatic to be looking for isolated place so that she could wait for a strange man to come to her for who knew what reason, the only evidence she had for any of this was the bizarre mark that had appeared on her hand and the sheer impossibility of what had happened.

But it was enough. She couldn't go back until she at least tired to find out what was going on. And if it was some sort of creep... well she had been the fastest girl on her track team by a long shot.

Looking around for a place that was out of sight but not entirely enclosed she made her way around the back of the hotel. Over in the distance about a block away she made out what must have been a vacant lot and headed for it. It this was a Mage then there would probably be light from the magic that they used to move about. They had asked for her own back yard specifically because it was secluded.

The night was surprisingly warm as she made her way over to the lot, with a fine spring sky, stars making their way to her eyes even though the considerable light pollution that the city gave off. Never the less she found herself hugging her jacket to her as she arrived.

The lot was a rather dumpy place, with broken concrete half covered in dirt from which grew a few scraggly weeds. It was big to, a considerable tract of land laying fallow in the night, illuminated only by the distant street lights.

"U-um hello?" She called tentatively looking around for any sign of the stranger. There was nothing. For a moment Suzuka just stood their looking around at the poor scenery waiting for something to happen feeling a little scare and foolish.

"I-Im sorry if I scared you the first time." She made out uncertainly. "But its okay, you can come out now. Nobody else is around."

"Really." came a soft voice from the air in front of her. Suzuka gasped and took a step back as the space in front of her shimmered and out of nothing the tall figure of the man from before literally appeared out of thin air.

Standing in front of her once again was the man from her dream. Just like in the room before she was struck by his tall but light figure, elegant violet clothes, long ponytail of matching color and sharp look that his eye held all caped off by the long hilt of the sword that was once again poking out from behind his shoulder. She stared up at him, feeling somehow paralyzed and wondering quite hard if this had been a good idea or not.

In return he looked down on her with a small smile, an expression that seemed to not know whether to be amused or bemused with her.

"This is the second time you have surprised me this evening girl." He said, his voice like running water, and laced with just a tiny current of humor. "After your show inside the inn I thought that you did not know what I was. Tell me, is my visage truly so terrifying as to elicit such a response from a woman?"

"Oh, ah no." Suzuka squeaked "I- Its that, you appeared so fast, you scared me out of my wits. I'm sorry if I hurt you."

The man gave her another amused look, his eyebrow high on his forehead. "Hurt me? Could you be speaking of the lamp?"

Suzuka gave a little nod wondering whether or not he was about to be angry.

Instead he just kept smiling. "I see." He said. "It will take more than a flung lamp to injure me, though apart from that I must say I cant understand you. What did you expect to happen when you summoned a Servant, that you were caught so off guard when I answered?"

There was a little pause before Suzuka realized that he expected her to answer the bizarre question. "Sorry, what?" she made out, feeling like she was missing something important.

The feeling intensified when the man's smile slipped a little at her response. "If you were not prepared for me to appear then why did you call me up? And in such a public place... I wonder..."

Suzuka felt the seed of confusion inside her grow. Now she was quite sure that she did not know what the Mage was talking about. "I don't know what you mean." She said, her voice starting to tremble a little again. "Call you up? I was just sleeping. You came into my room. I thought you had a message for me or something."

The mans eyes narrowed distinctly at that making Suzuka suddenly feel like she had really said something wrong, though what it was she could not imagine.

"A message?" He said sounding almost offended. "Do I look like a messenger? I am Assassin. Your Servant, as proved by the seals on your hand." To her great surprise, the man finished the statement by actually kneeling on the ground in front of her, his head bowed in what could only have been a gesture of submission.

Suzuka jolted a little and looked down at her hand. "T-this?" She said holding her her hand up so that he could see the back of it. "What do you know about this?"

The man looked up again, not at the back of her hand as she hoped he would but instead at her face, like she was some sort of fool. "Could it be?" He said slowly after a little. "That you really do not know what I am?"

"A-a Mage?" Suzuka suggested hoping fervently that he would laugh and say "Of course."

The man only shook his head softly and rose to his feet.

With in sudden surge of fear Suzuka felt like something heavy had dropped into her stomach. If he wasn't a Mage then... "Y-your not one of them are you?" She squeaked, taking an unsteady step back. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"So it's true." The man said, his expression unreadable. "You don't know what I am."

Suzuka said nothing still backing away from the strange man slowly. How could she have been so stupid to come out here? When there was someone she did not even know who had already forced their way into her room? Feeling like a rabbit about ready to bolt Suzuka tensed herself. She didn't know who he was, or what he was talking about, she had to get away. Get somewhere where there were other people.

"But if you don't know about me then how is it that you have my command seals?"

Not bothering to answer him or try to work out what he was talking about Suzuka turned and ran. Her heart pounding in her chest, she threw herself into a full sprint back towards the distant form of the hotel, her legs doing their running trick that so many track coaches had marveled at, she rushed through the darkness with a speed that most people could only envy.

Daring the briefest glance back she saw to her relief that the man was not pursuing her, only standing there watching with a mild expression as she ran away from him, already about 12 yards behind her. With a slight feeling of relief that he was going to let her go she turned her head forward again and kept running, determined not to stop until she had reached the sanctuary of the hotel.

"The first thing that you should know about me Mistress, is that I'm not someone you can run away from."

Suzuka let out a strangled gasp as the mans voice suddenly spoke out from _in front of her_. Before she even realized what was happening or saw him come up on her, the man was suddenly before her, his hand griping her arm and nearly causing her to fall as he stopped her flight dead in its tracks with a simple tug.

Really panicking now Suzuka let out the loudest scream that she could, only to find herself uselessly blowing air onto the mans other hand which was suddenly clamped over her mouth.

"I would prefer if you did not cause another scene like the one you did before." He said softly. "In any case you are in no danger from me, so you will thank me for saving you the embarrassment of another such encounter later."

Suzuka might as well have had earplugs on for all the good his words did. Throwing all her weight against his arm she tried to yank her hand free of his, desperately trying to wrench herself away. It did no good, the mans hand was like a steel trap, unyielding and completely unshakable. Realizing that she could not throw him off Suzuka drew her free hand back and with all her strength drove her fist straight into his face. Not many people knew it, but Suzuka was very strong, aside from track she had also dominated the ropes course, and had been capable of climbing using only her arms even when she was little. "Uncanny" was what one of her coaches had once called her, when she had demonstrated just how much it was she could lift one day during gym. Small, quite and passive as she was it was something that most people never realized, and often unnerved the ones who did. A boy that she had been dating once had even broken up with her over it.

Avail her here however, it did not. Though her knuckles impacted the mans face with enough power to knock someone out cold, he didn't even flinch, his head turning to the side a little at the impact but otherwise not showing any sign that he had just been socked in the nose by an accomplished athlete.

Suzuka noted this with something like despair, unable to think of anything else at the moment she bit down on the hand over her mouth as hard as she could. His grip did not lessen or even change at all, and though she felt the skin on his hand shift under her teeth it would not break.

"You wont be able to hurt me like that ." The man said in the same placid voice. "Nor is it in your interest to do so."

Still pulling as hard as she could Suzuka started kicking at his shins.

"If you will stop struggling I will release you presently." The man said a note of annoyance working it's way into his tone for the first time since she had suggested that he was a messenger.

Aiming one last kick at his shins Suzuka finally stopped when she felt a sharp pain lance through her toe as it connected. Now standing still, panting through her nose with his hand over her mouth she went limp, her legs loosing a lot of their strength she sagged in his grip forcing him to adjust his hand to a position further up on her arm so that he could support her. Half standing their half leaning on him she looked up at him, her heart hammering away in her chest so hard she though that the man must have been able to hear it.

"Now Mistress, I want you to listen to me. Are you listening?"

Reluctantly Suzuka nodded.

"First of all I am not going to hurt you. After all, I am your Servant, even if you don't know what that means. Do you understand?"

Suzuka nodded again, her fear ebbing only a little at the mans assurance.

"Second of all I cant allow you to simply leave me. Those symbols on your hand are important, they are what bind me to this world in the first place and in turn while you have them we are bound together. That is why I am restraining you now. If you run off and tell the people in that inn something outlandish, they'll come back here and check. And when they don't find me -and trust me they will not- you will go to the guards of this city and if that happens I wont be able to protect you without exposing myself and if that happens many would die."

Suzuka blinked. The mans voice was calming, a smooth tone that reminded her somehow of her father. Gradually as he spoke she felt the mad fear that had been pounding through her veins lessen, and though her confusion only increased as he went on she no longer felt the imperative urge to escape. Whoever he was, he at least meant her no harm for the moment, though what he said about exposing himself sent yet another chill up her spine.

"I'm going to let you go now." The man said once he had stopped talking. "If you run I wont do this again, I'll knock you out if I have to."

She nodded more firmly this time, whatever else she knew she knew that the man before her would keep his word on that, there was no hesitation in his eye, none at all, they were eyes that cut the night, and held in them no doubt or stress of any kind. Looking into them and recalling the way that he had so effortlessly caught up with her, she suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, there was really nothing she could do. Not against a man who could hold her captive with one hand or dissolve into thin air.

The hands that held her arm and mouth gently relinquished their grip and Suzuka pulled away from their owner, taking a few steps back in the process.

"Who are you?" Were the first words out of her mouth once she had steadied herself and worked up the nerve to speak again.

"I am your Servant." The man said simply. "My name is... not important right now. Not until you understand more at least. For now you may call me Assassin."

"Assassin?" Suzuka said, trying the name out. She found she did not care for it one bit. "Why Assassin? Isn't that a name for... for someone who kills people?" She ventured, a feeling of dread rising inside her as she did.

"It is." The man who called himself Murderer stated. "As for why I bear such a title it is because my real name would only confuse you for now, while my true name is of no consequence. Sufficient to say that all Servants receive such a title."

"Oh..." Suzuka mumbled. There was a brief silence as she just stared at her feet.

"I take it that you are aware of the existence of Magic?" He went on when he seemed to realize that she was not going to be initiating any conversation on her own. "Even before I was summoned I mean."

She nodded slowly still not looking up.

"But you are not a Magus yourself?"

"A Magus?"

"One who wields Magecraft."

A shake of the head.

"I see. In that case, what do you know about the Holy Grail?" Assassin asked, his voice the same as ever, yet still somehow conveying that this question was more important than the others.

"The Holy Grail?" Suzuka stammered looking back up at him, wracking her brains trying to place what he was talking about. "Do you mean the... the magic cup... thing?"

"I thought so." He said softly, giving her the impression that he was speaking more to himself than to her. "And you have never heard of Heroic Spirits. Tell me Mistress." He went on not waiting for her to affirm or deny the statement. "Do you believe in Yurei?"

"Ah? What? Ghosts?" Suzuka blurted out. Had it been a friendly setting she might have laughed, here she didn't dare. "No, of course not!"

This time it was Assassin that shook his head, doing so softly, his ponytail swinging behind him. "I see then that there is much I must inform you of."

"B-but Ghosts?" Suzuka intoned, her voice straining, one of her eyes starting to twitch despite itself. "T-Th-There is no such thing as ghosts!"

"There are such things as Yurei." Assassin said slightly amused. "And more than that."

"But...But... Not even Mages believe in ghosts!" Suzuka gasped. "Nanoha, Fate, a-all of them! They never said anything about ghosts!"

"Hmm. Whatever you have been told about such things is not important anymore. You have seen with your own eyes that my body is not flesh and blood."

"w-w.." Suzuka whimpered going pale, her eyes stretching open so wide that the whites became huge and the pupils seemed to shrink. the world around her was unsteady suddenly. Whatever was going on could not be real. "Then you're a..."

Assassin said nothing but it was enough. Her eyes rolling up into her head a little Suzuka swayed backwards, her hands which had been held together in front of her chest, dropping down to her sides while her legs gave way under her.

She never hit the ground, stepping forward quickly Assassin caught her as she toppled and laid her gently down on the dirt. Then standing back up he looked down regarding his Mistress carefully. _What do I have here? _

The maiden before him was a slightly short, very effeminate looking creature, with pale delicate features and long deeply purple hair that hung down to her lower back in flowing tresses, starting out straight, but becoming wavy as it went. Altogether she was quite a beauty even when laying on a patch of cold hard dirt, sprinkled with broke concrete. It was an aspect that he noted with some degree of humor, whoever she was and however she had come to be chosen by the Grail the flighty girl was not Master material. From what he had seen she was weak. Not in arm surprisingly, as he had found when she had punched him, but certainly in all other aspects that made women inferior.

And on top of this she was not even a Magus. While she was certainly aware of Magic to some degree, (how he did not know, for they hid magic these days, so the Grail had told him) she was at the same time unaware of many things that were equally important. While he would never understand what it was like to be raised to disbelieve in Yurei, such was reputedly the custom of the day, and it was one that she had evidently never shed even after her induction into the existence of magic.

What an interesting situation to work with. He was contracted to completely ordinary town girl.

It was something that would have concerned him more were it not for the steady supply of prana that he was receiving from... somewhere. How this had all worked out he had no idea, though, now that he thought about it Assassin found that it was rather to his liking. A Magus would try to use him, he had in fact come expecting this. This girl though, in her was freedom. She knew nothing of the Grail and so would not force him to pursue it for her. This was better than anything he could have wished for.

Looking up from her, a tiny wisp of a smile present on his face he looked around, he would have to mover her presently, it would not do for his pretty Mistress to fall ill from laying on the ground, spring though it was the night air was still coolish.

Bending down to pick her up Assassin had one hand around her back when he froze. Someone was coming...

Letting her back town to rest on the earth again, Assassin straightened and cast his eyes around the lot. Off in the distance two figures were making their way toward him out of the night, one an immensely tall bulky figure of a man, clad from head to toe in plate armor of some kind, and carying a long thin object in one hand, its identity not difficult to guess at. The other was a much smaller figure that followed slightly behind him, a girl probably from the looks of it, wearing an frilly dress of some sort.

Assassins smile perked ever so slightly. Here they were, the real reason he had come.

He spared a swift glace over his shoulder at his Mistress. She did not look like she would be waking up any time soon, and the newcomers were already to close to have not seen him. For now she would have to stay where she lay, and he could not remain near her lest the possible duel caused collateral damage. Pushing of with a slight nudge with his foot Assassin dashed off leaving Suzuka where she was.

*Scene *

Trotting along behind her Servant Krisikka Edelfelt gazed curiously into the vacant lot they were coming to. There was another Servant somewhere up ahead, and another Master as well probably. Two others who had been summoned to late to make it to the rendezvous point just like they had.

She had become aware of their presence only about an hour before, when she had sensed an large wave of mana surge from somewhere out in the forest. At first she hadn't know what to make of the phenomena, but after a little contemplation she had realized what it must have been. A sudden surge of that magnitude out of nowhere indicated that in all probability a ley line had shifted somewhere deep under the earth. It would have been a occurrence that would have warranted study, but for one thing. Only a few minutes afterwards there had been another more familiar surge of Mana. She recognized the signature of another Servant materializing into the world almost immediately. Krisikka had taken only a minute to change into her best dress (She wanted to look her finest when she met the new arrivals after all) and she and her Servant were off, the wind wiping her hair back as Beserker carried her in his arms, safe as a kitten while he ran at breathtaking speed through the night, jumping from roof to roof faster by far than any car on the roads below them.

Even with her Knights incredible speed however it had taken them a while to pinpoint the location, neither of them possessing Mana sensing ability that were good enough to feel servants out at long range. Now though it seemed like hey had finally found the right place.

Krisikka couldn't resist clapping her hands together slightly as they went forward. Her blood sung in anticipation, she was about to meet another Servant apart from her own for the first time. What would they be like? While she was certain that they would not be as strong as her own she found that she was still aching with anticipation to find out. The chance to see another Heroic Spirit, a fairy tail come to life made her want to squirm with delight.

"What do you think they will be like?" She chirped looking up at Beserker as he went before her.

"Truly Mistress there is no way to tell." He answered, his voice soft despite its deepness.

"I bet its gona be a Lancer, that would make him super fast! Or a Caster, and they'll be able to do True Sorcery!"

"Perhaps." The knight said without much conviction.

"Quick! Before we meet them! Who do you know who is super fast AND can use True Sorcery?"

"I fear that I know of no such Hero, though it was once said that the barbarians of Ireland had witch maidens who studied both the sword and enchantment."

"Really!" Kristikka gasped her eyes widening at the idea. "What would you do if it was one of those?"

"Calm yourself Mistress." The giant armored man chided. "We have no way of knowing who is before us, such rampant speculation is fool's work, it doth sit poorly with you."

Kristikka's shoulders slumped a little at the reprimand. There it was again, her Servant was always going on about her restrain herself and being more "Maidenly." He was almost as bad as her mother sometimes. Well, for now at least she couldn't be reserved. She was just so exited!

"Do you think it might be a Knight like you?" She started again smiling once more. "Then he would challenge you for my hand and you would have to kill each other!"

"Only please don't." She tacked on to the end her smile fading, feeling suddenly awkward about what she had just said.

"Enough Mistress." Beserker said, the reprimand a little clearer in his voice this time. "You should not speak so eagerly of such things. Deeds of that nature have indeed occurred under heaven, with bitter occasion following close behind. For now be silent. Our newcomer draws near."

Appearing suddenly out of the night. (Or so it seemed to Kristikka) A man emerged from the darkness, stopping a fey yards in front of them. He was tall, distinctly Japanese looking wearing a sort of purple robe that fell about his feet and with a long blue ponytail. Tall as he was, before the huge dark armored form of Beserker he did not make for an impressive figure.

Standing there perfectly still he gazed back at them, not giving Kristikka a glance but instead looking Beserker up and down with the air of someone judging weather or not he would be worth his time.

"Hail." Berserker called out firmly, his arms hanging at his sides non-threateningly. "We come here not to quarrel this night. I am the Servant Beserker. This is my Mistress. We felt you emergence and have come to offer you what aid and companionship as we might. Who are you man?"

Assassin stood there looking back the duo. While some would have found them mismatched in reality the two went together well. A tall Knight bedecked in armor with a small elegant maiden in a flowing blue dress behind him. They were like a scene right out of a story book. Assassin however took little notice of this, his eyes feasting on the Servant before him tracing along his dark angular armor and the spikes that protruded from its collar. Here was a warrior. Here was a Knight. True it was not the Saber Servant but from the look of him he could well have qualified, the strong, powerful yet dignified aura that surrounded him only enhancing this impression. Here was someone that might give him a duel to remember...

His eyes tracing down the large servant Assassin suddenly stopped when he reached the object in his hand. One of the eyebrows on his head could not help but rise as he realized that instead of the sword that he had been expecting in his hand this Servant carried a strange wooden pole. It was about four feet long and thinner on one end than the other making it vaguely resemble either some weird variation of a practice sword or a child's play model of one. Even then neither of those fit the bill perfectly either.

Scrunching his eyes ever so slightly at the strange object Assassin riffled through the bounty of new information that had been given to him by the Grail upon his arrival...

He nearly blinked as he suddenly placed it. The rod was a tool used in a game that involved lightly striking balls into holes on some sort of special table. Pool it was called. What was a Servant doing with a pool stick?

"So." Assassin said, eyes flickering back to the Knights face plate. "You would greet me with open arms without knowing my ability's or intent. How generous of you. In that case then, I am the Servant Assassin. Kojirou Sasaki is my name."

Beserker shifted slightly at his announcement, while Kristikka let out a little stuttering gasp. "Eh? D-did you just!...Tell your name?"

Assassin didn't answer or even look at her, his eyes locked on to the armored Servant in front of him, who seemed to stare back silently.

"I see. You put me to shame Sir Sasaki." The Knight said after a little, sounding impressed. "That I would be shown up in a matter of Chivalry bites me to the quick. Allow me to reintroduce myself, I a-"

"No." Assassin said softly, cutting the armored figure off with a gentle word. "That will not be necessary. I am not a Genuine Spirit as you are. The figure of my legend never existed, thus the name I bear is empty."

"You are... a fake? I do not understand." Beserker said, confused.

"Call me a replacement if you will, it does not mater." Here Assassin dropped his small smile completely. "There is only one thing that I desire to know of you. Are you a swordsman?"

There was another silence, this one longer, before the Knight answered. "Before I can determine the conundrum of your name, I must answer, and hear your reply. I am a swordsman, and more than a swordsman, in my time I had no equal. Of that, what say you?"

The smile on Assassins face reappeared as if by magic, his eyes flashed and he reached for the sword that lay slung over his shoulders. "In that case." He said as he unslung the scabbard from his back and held it before him, drawing it slowly. Kristikka giving another little "Ep!" as its full length was revealed. "In that case then let us compare techniques. Draw your sword Knight, and if you are what you claim to be then my only ambition for this Crusade will be fulfilled."

Beserker gave a solemn nod and held the pool stick out in front of him like a blade. "Then I have solved the conundrum of your name, Assassin. Whether or not you are who your legend represents maters not. You are a opponent who stands before me, therefore your name has meaning. Kojirou Sasaki, I am the Black Knight: Sir Lancelot du Lac."

Behind her servant Kristikka looked about ready to pop with excitement. "Ohhh!" She said swaying side to side from her ankles. "You told him your name! Beat him up Lance!"

Assassin tilted his head to the side a little, his sword was out all the way, the long scabbard flung away . "Do as you wish, only throw away that stick and draw your Sword."

"This is my sword." The Black Knight said simply, pointing the length of wood directly at him. In a flash of black Beserker ran forward, wooden stick raised above his head with one hand. In an eye blink he was before Assassin, bringing it down in a wide blurring ark to bash in his head.

In a single twisting motion Assassin swung his own absurdly long blade forward with a swish of steel, aiming for his opponents exposed belly as he bore down on him.

Twisting his arm mid strike Lancelot changed his weapons momentum, bringing the stick down and blocking the blade meant to penetrate his armor and spill his guts out over the ground. The long steel Nodachi met the wooden pool stick less than half its length and was stopped with an audible 'Clang!'.

Assassin narrowed his eyes as he felt the shock of the impact travel up his sword. That was no wooden pole.

Reversing his blade completely, Assassin made another arc with his weapon, deflecting the next strike that was swung down, this coming towards his side. Wood met steel again, and then again and again as the two warriors began to fence, Lancelot fighting one handed with his rod bringing it down again and again as if to hammer his opponent into submission, Assassin flicking his two handed blade in and out like a painter, never quite meeting any of the blows of the larger man, but catching each and sweeping it aside.

Yet it was not a perfect contrast. While the Black Knight swung straight and hard as if determined to sunder the very ground below his foe, he swung with grace as well, his blows changing direction, sometimes midway though the air, and coming in so fast and so precisely that they blended power and speed in a mesh that the sweeping strokes of the Nodachi only just matched.

Assassin swept his blade back and forth through the air in front of him savoring the speed and skill that his enemy attacked with. The fight had not gone on for but two dozen seconds and he could already tell that his opponent was worthy of his full measure. Parrying yet another blow that sought to wrench his sword from his hands Assassin twirled, changing his footing slightly and swiping suddenly low with his sword to cut his opponents ankle out from under him.

The Knight simply hopped forward and over the blade, closing the gap between him and his enemy and thrusting with the stick to stab Assassin through the chest. His charge was stalled however, when the blade that had been slashing at his feet a moment before somehow came back up faster than he had anticipated, forcing him to step back again, unable to parry when his weapon was overextended.

"You're control is incredible." Lancelot said, holding his stick loosely by his side and studying Assassins stance. "Were I to say that I have seen none like it in my life I should speak the truth."

"You're own control is quite impressive Beserker." Assassin returned, his eyes fixed on the pool stick in Lancelot's hand. Whatever it was that his opponent or his opponents Mistress had done to that piece of wood it was as strong as any blade and doubly dangerous in the masterful hands of his enemy. But was no Noble Phantasm, or even legend-less weapon like his was. The simple thing that the Beserker Servant was trying to beat him down with was made in this era. He knew this for he had spotted the brand name of the thing printed on the side of its shaft. While it admittedly made for an passable weapon, and the one before him used it as if he had been fighting with it his entire life, in the end it was just a glorified piece of wood.

Underneath his tranquil exterior Assassins temper flared. He was being scorned. "I have never seen a man swing as strongly as you do, you must have trained quite strenuously to master such power."

"Indeed." Lancelot answered proudly. "But I have always held that skill is crippled without strength to back it. Assassin, if that is all the might of body that you can muster against me than you have already lost."

Assassin only smiled slightly, his eyes drifting closed as he did so. A moment later they snapped open, bright and sharp as knives with anticipation. "Come on Berserker. Throw away that piece of wood and draw your sword."

"I draw my sword at my leisure. Not yours Samurai."

"In that case I will have to make you realize that you cannot win against me by attacking halfheartedly" Assassin said with an edge to his voice, bringing his sword up into a more aggressive stance.

If you wish to see it then weather this!" Lancelot intoned, his voice carrying a dark edge for the first time. His challenge still hanging in the air he charged his enemy again.

Like a great dark wave smashing into a solitary lighthouse Lancelot bore down on Assassin, his improvised weapon lashing out again and again from every angle as the razor wind of Assassins Nodachi flickered out to stop it. He met the charging Knight with a precisely aimed strike at the knee joint of the armor, bringing it around again as it was met and aiming a round of slashes at the upper arm and lower side of Beserker seeking to check his enemies advance like before and force him to realize the futility of assaulting him with an inferior weapon. Rather than two counter parry's that he had expected however the strikes were deflected with a single dexterous flick of the Knights writs, a maneuver that nearly made him raise an eyebrow at its execution.

Slashing forward once more, the tip of his sword a small silver gleam curving out to cut open his opponents throat, Assassin aimed a whisper quick slice at Lancelot's neck while his stick was still coming up from his waist level where the twisting motion had left it. It was a perfectly aimed stroke, one that meant either retreat or trusting in ones armor to prevent a slit jugular for the recipient.

So it was that when, in a sudden display of agility that had hitherto been only hinted at, Lancelot ducked under the strike completely, his helmet blurring as he moved downwards and away from it and then shot forward again, his pool stick coming up to block the next strike and then lash out at him. Only a lifetime of meditation, knowledge respect and harmony prevented Assassin from blinking. Suddenly, impossibly, the Knight was inside his reach and was now closing the rest of the gap between them with unreal speed, the stick hurtling down to break his shoulder, or simply cut him in half more likely.

Throwing himself backwards onto his heels, Assassin reversed his stance in an instant and started backpedaling as quickly as possible, somehow he had underestimated his opponent, the huge Servant was about to take him apart. Even then Assassins composure did not waver, bringing his sword up and around while the rest of his body was retreating, he swung his sword knocking aside the stick that had been milliseconds away from ending the duel.

Lancelot did not let up, still plowing towards him he began to swing the stick even faster at his retreating opponent, the longer, heavier blade proving awkward at such close quarters.

Weather it Assassin did though, the lithe man dodging the rain of strikes like a snake, his head dipping and angling back and forth as he backed up while his eyes traced every movement of the improvised weapon. Somehow two held even, one running back the other at, one opening and the other closing they left the staring nail biting girl who was their only spectator nearly in the distance.

Running backwards as fast as he possibly could Assassin felt himself break out into sweat. He could not keep this up, even aside from the fact that he would tire long before his opponent did, the larger Servant was closing in all the same, his own parry's getting more and more desperate while the Knight in front of him showed no sign of letting up or loosing rhythm. Grunting as his hand was jarred slightly by a particularly strong hit, Assassin pulled his sword back and then leaned back ever so slightly more.

It was to much for his center of gravity, and with the last required degree for his continued uprightness crossed the Samurai in violet fell backwards. The move however had been no accident and the dirt was not the swordsman's destination. Thrusting the butt of his sword hilt behind him as he fell, Assassin pushed himself up and then swung both feel forward, catching Lancelot in the lower breast plate and then shoving off with all of his strength.

The Black Knight barley felt the double footed kick to the stomach from his blue haired opponent, but the return force sent Assassin's much lighter, unarmored self flying thought the air away from his enemy in a single long back flip that put him 30 feet away from the tower of dark armor he had used as a spring board.

Landing elegantly feet first on the ground the Samurai instantly resumed combat stance, his sword held straight out in front of him once more.

"Unbelievable." The Knight commented, sounding satisfied. "I didn't think that you would be able to keep up your defense after I got inside your swords reach. Never-the-less you have not proven yourself to me, my sword will remain sheathed until you can convince me otherwise"

"You would go back on your word?" Assassin demanded, his eyes narrowing. A bead of sweat was running down his face, the enemy before him was a western knight, a warrior who relied upon strength to cleave their foes asunder, yet somehow the dark knight, this Lancelot attacked with a blend of power and finesse that was overcoming his own flawless style. How he had gotten inside his reach jarred him as well, the man had moved so fast that for a second his speed had been almost faster than his sword in mid swing.

Tightening his grip on his sword Assassin felt his heart quicken slightly. How fortunate he was to meet such a Servant not an hour after his summoning, if only he would draw his sword in return he could go back to Alaya right now satisfied with the outcome of the Crusade. But not like this. No matter how skilled he could not complete his satisfaction fighting someone with a stick.

His heart beating in his chest Assassin checked himself. No wonder he had been caught of guard. In his excitement over such an excellent foe he had nearly lost his composure. Closing his eyes briefly he regulated his breathing once more, his heart returning to its normal pace. Relaxing his tensed body slightly he loosened his grip on his sword. _Knowledge of Respect and Harmony..._

His eyes opening once more he lifted them to the other Servant, his previous emotion gone, only the slight thrill of what was to come left in his body.

Slowly at first, but quickly working up his speed again Lancelot advanced upon him once more. Closing his eyes briefly Assassin swung his weapon out, only his skill guiding his hand he opened them again after he felt the satisfying impact of his sword clashing with the stick exactly where he had predicted. Perfect, the first strike of the new round was flawless, as was the second, and the third, and the fourth and fifth... now to correct what he had done wrong before...

Just like the first time the massive knight advanced upon him steadily his journey forward somehow undeterred by the flurry of blade-work that Assassin set between them. Taking this into his stride Assassin adjusted his footing and began to quick step to the side, avoiding one hit completely and lashing out at Lancelot's neck from the new angle. Not missing a beat Lancelot immediately sidestepped as well, his pole coming up to intercept the strike effortlessly.

Sidestepping around in a half circle the two Servants reversed their previous positions all while exchanging strokes at a pace that would have confused anything short of a camera meant to photograph bullets.

Shifting his footing once again Assassin began to step back steadily keeping even with Beserker's advance and maintaining the distance his swords length demanded in the process.

Blade and pole deflecting each other in a rhythmic 'tisct' 'tisct' 'tisct' 'tisct' they worked their way steadily back towards the point in which they had started, Assassin's arms forming a dancing pattern in the air as he parried and slashed alternating so seamlessly between defense and offense that it was nearly impossible to distinguish.

Lancelot marveled as he advanced. He had never seen anything quite like what the foreign Knight in front of him was doing, all of the foes he had ever faced in life had worked with some variation of the traditional style. While he had seen curved swords before they were no weapon for a Knight. This man however was using a immense, strangely wrought curved brand in a manner that almost recalled the use of a whip in some ways.

It was with great fascination and even difficulty that he fenced it. Now that was something new. He could not claim to have faced a style that offered him difficulty for a good length of time. The style itself seemed to have little strength to it, yet still stopped his assault, one which would have felled many other Knights stronger by far than the slender man before him. Rather than meet his blade it seemed to weave around it never facing it full on or trying to match him arm to arm, but rather relying on its impressive speed and great length to overcome. He had yet to see if any of this outweighed the styles flaws however.

The first time he had fought it the man before him had seemed determined to hold his ground, an act that had allowed him to get inside his swords spear like length. He had nearly ended the fight right there but instead he had refrained from just finishing it and the man had been able to slip away quite skillfully. Now however the Samurai was keeping pace with him, walking backwards and effectively preventing him from preforming the same trick twice. In addition to this he seemed to be fighting even better than he had been before, his strikes so precise and rapid that he was quite sure even... **she**... would have had difficulty matching them.

As if to affirm his estimate a second later he blinked in surprise as his enemy's sword struck lower than he had blocked for, finally penetrating his defense and scoring him on the pauldron. Stopping his advance momentarily causing the two of them to break apart he inspected his shoulder armor. _Amazing_, he noted to himself, the one before him was good enough to match him in swordsmanship. Even equal him in terms of pure blade-work...

Inside his helmet the knight's face hardened even more than it was. If his enemy was fast, then he would have to teach him the measure of strength.

Opposite to him Assassin was also observing the moderate dent that now marred the Knights dark armor a look of satisfaction etched onto his face. The first strike of the fight had been dealt, and despite his enemies own enormous ability it was his. Even though it had not penetrated his armor, the mark left over was a badge of defeat.

"If you will not draw your sword." He said coldly. "Then I will cut you down before you can touch me with that stick."It was time. Pulling his sword up and behind his face, his hands reversing their usual position on the hilt, he changed his stance turning his back nearly completely on his enemy. His sword was now positioned at a right angle away from his body where it stayed, hanging perfectly still like a beam of moonlight in the night air. "Prepare yourself Knight, or you'll die."

Lancelot narrowed his eyes at the new stance. It was not remotely like anything he recognized and it immediately struck him as suspicious, he was no stranger to tricks after all. The only question was how to determine what his enemy was attempting before her fell into it.

Still studying the new stance his eye drifted slightly over Assassins shoulder. His Master, who had been left behind when Assassin had beat a retreat was now catching up to them once more, her frilly dress clutched in both hands as she did her best to hurry over so she could observe them fight. A flash of something plucked at him from the inside watching her. It was almost like old times, fighting another for the honor of a maiden, it was that fact that had brought him out of his stupor when he had first been summoned...

He blinked coming out of his introspection. Leveling his stick at the swordsman he issued a silent challenge. Whatever it was Assassin did, he would match it. The tall samurai read his intent perfectly, the small smile on his face growing.

Stick streaking in from the side Beserker launched himself forward in a blur of dark metal, streaking towards his foe with unreal speed. A valorous charge that would have broken any carvery regiment to pieces before it.

To Assassin however it could have been any speed, such things did not matter anymore. Before his eyes all that was visible was the flight of a single Swallow flapping its wings against the sun long ago swallowed up by time, but for an instant immortal.

"Tsubame Gaeshi!"

Lancelot brought his stick up and blocked the incoming blade. Then eyes widened when, quite suddenly there were two other blades sprung from nowhere coming up under his guard.

*Scene *

An appreciable distance from the battle Suzuka groaned softly, her blue eyes fluttered open. She was laying on the hard ground, her head lolled off to one side, several small stones starting to cut into her back. Somewhere in the distance there was a strange sound, like mettle clacking together that she could not place. Siting up quickly she ran her hand over her head. What had just happened? The strange man, Assassin, was gone. Hadn't he claimed to be a ghost? More importantly where was he now?

She must have passed out, she realized, brushing off the collection of small pebbles that were sticking into her back. She had fallen when the man had claimed to be a ghost, and not only that...

The recollection of him appearing out of thin air came crashing back. Now she remembered, she had not passed out because he had claimed to be a ghost, she had passed out because it was true! He really was...

No that couldn't be right... he was tricking her somehow, he must have used magic to confuse her, or... or something.

Brushing her back off one last time she looked around quickly. If the man was gone then maybe she could make it back to the hotel, if she could just call Alisa then she could get ahold of the TSAB, tell them that there was someone using magic to... break... something...

In any case she was sure that teleporting into someones room and then trying to use magic to convince them that you were a ghost must be breaking some sort interdimensional law.

Getting to her feet rather wobbly she cast another look around and froze. Off in the distance two figures appeared to be facing each other moving back and fourth rapidly like some sort of weird dance or fencing competition.

Wait? Fencing competition?

Looking closer Suzuka reanalyzed the scene that was going on in the distance. The two figures were moving fast, faster than seemed possible, and their motions definitely deemed like fighting more than anything else. Looking at the two obscured figures going at it she suddenly remembered the sword that the strange man had slung over his back with vivid detail.

Quite suddenly she felt sick. That man was fighting someone over there, he was distracted now and every single instinct in her body told her in no unsure terms that it was time to leave. At the same time though she felt a strange almost magnetic pull towards the fight. Scared though she was some odd part of her was telling her to run over and try and stop whatever was happening. It was ridiculous, but maybe if she... if she... digging into her pocket she felt for what she was almost sure would not be there her hand froze as it made contact with a small rectangular object lodged deep down in her pocket.

Quickly pulling out her cellphone and giving the two distant figures another glance she flipped it open and dialed 110.

"Hello what is your emergency?" The operator said answering after a few seconds.

"Auh! T-there are two people fighting each other. I don't known what happened but they have weapons and I think they are trying to kill each other!"

"What is your location?"

In a hurried voice Suzuka rattled of the address of the hotel she had left and then described the lot that lay behind it. When she had finished she was asked her name which she gave. "Officers will be there shortly. Is there anyone else around?"

"N-no"

"Alright ma'am it will take a couple of minutes for assistance to arrive. Leave the vicinity immediately, do not attempt to interfere with either party, distance yourself from the fight **immediately**."

"O-of course." She replied and closed her cellphone. Taking a few steps back towards the hotel she stopped and looked back. She was aware of a painful urge to go and do exactly what the emergency operator had suggested and head for the safety of the hotel. From there she could probably be back home by tomorrow.

Yet somehow... _something_ in her was telling her to stay. Stay and see what was going on... to brave a madman with magical powers just so that she could... she didn't even know. It suddenly felt to her as if two different party's were pulling her in different directions. One was clear, the world she had lived in all her life, cars and streetlights her friends and parents and even her college... The other was not so distinct, it seemed to consist mostly of the single moment when she had been looking out to sea that day so long ago, and seeing the mass of dark power build up. The feeling that there was something very big that she was missing and had missed her entire life. It was strange and made her feel very small, well, smaller than usual. And it was now not completely indistinct. Now that she thought about it standing on that side were also several of her friends, people who who had once been perfectly content to speak with thought a telecam seemed suddenly to be distant from her like she did not **really** know them. Altogether they pulled her gently towards the direction of the fight. She noted suddenly with a feeling of dull thoughtfulness that the fight lay on the same side as did the hand that was now marked with the strange tattoo on her hand while the hotel lay on the opposite side closer to her unmarked hand.

_If you go now, you will never find out. _A tiny voice that she could not even begin to identify said solemnly in the back of her head.

Slowly, still rooted to the spot she turned her head between the two, the hotel on her let and the fighting figures on her right. Both were distant she could go either way...

She shook herself. What was she thinking? Turning towards the hotel Suzuka began to run directly towards it, reality slapping her in the face as she did so. Had she really been considering returning to the clutches of the weird Assassin man? Because of a fleeting feeling? If it had been compelling for a moment then it was no longer, not now that she was moving.

Moving with complete certainty now she ran as fast as she could. She would have to make it across the open space that lay between her and the back of the hotel before the fight ended if she wanted to escape. Whoever the man was she knew that she didn't stand a chance of escaping someone who could teleport unless she got out of sight. And maybe not even then, how had he found her in the first place? Was she being stalked? If so how long had he been watching her?

The thought would probably have disturbed her more if her heart were not already pounding in her chest from exertion and she had not already received a much more unpleasant shock what seemed like not moments before.

In any case it would not matter, if he was still around in a few minutes the police would show up and get him and then.…. !

Suzuka stopped dead in her tracks as she realized what a fool she had been. The Police? What were the Police going to do to a Mage? The sickening sensation that she had only just banished returned to her stomach with a vengeance. Hadn't the Assassin man already told her that he was willing to kill police officers if they got in his way?

_I just sent them to their death's..._

For the longest time she stood, halfway back to the hotel looking back at the vacant lot that she had just left behind. Then, adjusting her shirt collar nervously she turned her trembling feet around and began to run.

The run back towards the hotel had not seemed to take very long. In contrast to this Suzuka found herself acutely aware of having to lift and drop her legs every time she took the next running step towards the place she knew the strange Assassin man would be fighting. Her heart hammered in her chest harder than ever despite her great physical condition.

It was not long before the sound of clashing weapons (For she knew now that that is what the sound must be) once again became loud in the air. Reaching the spot that she had started from Suzuka kept going, running towards the two as fast as she could even though they must have been more than 100 yards away.

Finally as she began to draw near them she became able to make out details about the combatants in the low light. What she saw made her falter and then stop, staring at the scene that was before her.

Sure enough the Assassin man was there, his tall figure walking backwards all the time while his hair hung out swaying behind him, in his hands he held a ridiculously long sword that he was swinging so quickly she could barley make it out at all save for occasional gleams of light as it caught the moons beams. What she could see of it however was beautiful, a dance like pattern of blurring silver that was nearly mesmerizing to watch.

But the Assassin mans sword, beautiful though it was could only keep her focus for so long. Advancing against the whirling wall of steel that he was making, a huge man, dressed from head to foot in dark, nearly black armor was bearing on down on him, lashing out with what looked like his own sword, much shorter that the great blade in the hands of his enemy but seemingly just as fast.

Suzuka stood there transfixed by the sight, her reason for coming in the first place nearly forgotten as she watched the two go at it. They were moving impossibly fast, easily 10 times the speed of the fastest spar that she had ever watched and probably much faster, their arms moving to quickly for her to really follow. It was a hypnotizing display, the two of them so distinctive and so flawless in their movements that she found her self staring slack jawed. More than that however the very air around the two seemed somehow to be distorted by their presence, as if the intensity of the duel was more than physical.

Still watching them from a distance she blinked when the flow of battle was suddenly interrupted. The Armored man had stepped back and was now inspecting the armor on his shoulder. Turning back to the Assassin man who was waiting for him the two began to speak, though weather she was to far away, or more likely simply to disconcerted to catch it she did not hear what it was.

They spoke for a little, only snatches of the conversation reaching her ears, before resuming combat stance again, the dark armored man taking a simple one while the Assassin man seemed to turn away and bring his sword up to his face.

Looking at it Suzuka suddenly felt that the odd stance was familiar to her somehow. That was right, it was the same one from the dream she remembered.

Extending his own weapon the armored man suddenly disappeared, literally blurring out of existence before her eyes accompanied by a gust of wind that sent up a dirt cloud in all directions from where he had been standing.

Then at the same moment even as he vanished Assassin brought his sword down in a arc over his head.

"Tsubame Gaeshi!"

It all happened so quickly that Suzuka barely caught it, the move like a flash of lighting which lights the land for an instant before subsiding. In a motion that seemed to bend light leaving a trail of afterimages behind it the sword whipped out somehow meeting the armored man (who had seemingly reappeared when the blow came down) on his own blade.

And then, quite suddenly the same blade was in three places at once. Silver steel flashed three times at once, the blade meeting the armored man's slender weapon head on and stopping there and swooping in from the side to cut into his arm while coming in upwards from the opposite direction to score his advisory in the side. One single strike that was at the same time three.

The armored Warrior gave a cry of pain as the blade struck him, biting into his armor and drawing blood from the two points where he had not blocked.

Suzuka blinked, her brain rejecting the thing that her eyes had just in formed it of. Mouth still gaping she looked on as the armored warrior suddenly threw himself forward again resuming the battle heedless of his wounds even as blood began to poor out from the wound in his side staining his black armor red.

It was the sight of blood, visible even from the distance Suzuka was watching from that broke her out of her wonder.

"Th-They're killing each other!" She gasped to herself. The reason she had come in the first place recalled itself and she set out running towards them once more, screwing herself up for what she was about to do.

*Scene *

Throwing himself to one side Assassin evaded a swipe from a pool stick that hit his with a small gust of wind even after he had dodged it. Deflecting another horrendously powerful attack he began to back up again, pulling back before the oncoming charge of the wounded Knight. His turning swallow strike had not accomplished as much as he had hopped it would. While his flawless technique had worked perfectly it had not cut down his foe in an instant like it was meant to. His opponents armor, while not completely protecting him, had absorbed much of his power. It was thicker than the armor of his countrymen, and differently shaped as well making it more difficult to find a weak point in. But still, it should have been enough to weaken him at least, while he did not think that the wound on his enemy's arm was deep enough to do more than irritate the wound he had inflicted on the Knights side should have put the fearsome swordsman down.

Instead the Knight was now attacking him even stronger than before, ignoring the free bleeding wound like it did not even exist.

Parrying two more strikes with a zig zag motion from his blade Assassin allowed himself a fuller smile. His opponent was strong no doubt, in mind as well as body but in the end he would succumb to weakness from blood loss. The current vigor was simply the last rush of adrenalin from a desperate warrior, one he had but to weather to achieve victory. Blocking a few more strikes Assassin decided that is was time to test his opponents speed once more. Shifting into offense he deflected one last blow from the stick and aimed a precision cut at Beserkers torso, seeing how fast he would manage to evade it now.

With a sharp clang, Assassins nodachi struck the black steel of Lancelot's armor and stopped. Rather than dodge it the Knight had moved forward into it, taking the sword head on with the front of his breastplate, one foot bracing himself slightly against the impact, the forged steel plates of the armor combined with the Knights own body weight stopped the curved long sword dead.

Assassins eyes flew wide open and as fast as he could he pulled back on the blade attempting to get it clear but it was to late. With speed equal to his own Lancelot's free hand shot out and grabbed the blade before it could be drawn back.

Throwing all his strength into it Assassin pulled his sword back, trying to twist it out of the Knights grasp. The nodachi was immovable.

With a sudden, unstoppable thrust Lancelot drove his stick through his shoulder, the four foot wooden pole impaling him through his collar bone and coming out the other end drenched in blood.

Grunting in pain and resisting the urge to scream Assassin pulled on his weapon once more and then stopped. With a sigh he closed his eyes gently and just stood there, his hands resting lightly on the still captive sword that was the center his existence. _How regretful... I would have dearly loved to have seen his sword._ He thought with a twinge of annoyance. _Still, it __**was**_ _a fantastic sword-fight._

"So. Even with my Turning Swallow Strike it was not enough. It seems that the gap between our skill is that of a hairbreadth, to thin to be decided by skill alone. Your Strength has won you through."

"You're swordsmanship is incomparable." Lancelot said. "I all my days I have never seen a strike so flawless it would do as yours did. But you forgot. A knights body is his sword just as much as the steel in his hand."

Assassin snorted suddenly looking scornful "Preposterous...Strike me down stick fighter, it is unfitting that the loser of a battle between Servants would live."

"Wait! S-stop!" A new voice screamed out.

Lancelot turned quickly looking over his shoulder in surprise. Running towards him not but a few yards away was a maiden perhaps in her mid twenty's, purple hair flowing out behind her as she bounded towards him.

"Stop! Don't kill him! You cant kill him!" Drawing near him but stopping short of arms length the girl stood there, staring up at him with wide frightened eyes. "Please stop fighting." She whispered as she met his eyes through his visor.

Lancelot shifted, unless he was mistaken (A quick glance down at the girls hand purged all possible doubt) this was Kojiro's Mistress. Any other master would be making tracks in the opposite direction about now, that or trying to defeat him with their magic. Yet here this one was positioning herself in the most convenient place for him to kill her so she could beg for her Servants life.

The hand that held his weapon twitched and then eased slightly. That was... very noble of her actually.

Looking the girl before him up and down he noted that she certainly did not look like any enchantress he knew. She was of medium height with purple hair and eyes that matched, dressed in what what looked like sleep garb that his own mistress often wore with a sort of light jacket thrown on over it. Altogether she looked like nothing more than a commoner. A far cry from someone who would bind a Servant.

Lancelot's hand twitched once more as he heard yet another small set of feet approach suddenly with a pitter pater noise. It seemed that his own mistress had caught up with them at last. With a strong feeling of foresight in his gut he suddenly knew that his she would demand that he spare the Samurais life.

"Ohhh! You beat him!" Krisikka crowed clapping her hands together "I knew you would." She went on before stopping and ogling him. "But your hurt! Are you alright?" She asked urgently, a bit frightened by the idea that her Servant might not be invincible.

"It is nothing Mistress. For now what would you have me do with them?" Lancelot answered gesturing with his head towards Assassins Master.

Krisikka paused noticing her for the first time and looking the newcomer up and down with a suspicious expression.

"Do with us?" Assassin's master said sounding more scared than ever. Screwing her face up like she was about to swallow something bitter she blurted: "Let him go. Fighting is against the law, if you don't stop all this n-now you'll get arrested! I called the TSAB and their sending other Mages right now!"

"What!" Krisikka yelped."More Magi are coming? Why on earth did you do that you dirty little tattle!"

"Th-they were trying to kill each other!" The purple hared woman said.

"Well duh!"

"You mean you knew?" Assassins Mistress breathed going pale.

"You will forgive my poor Mistress, it seems as though she was drawn into this with no foreknowledge of our existence." Assassin said calmly making Lancelot marvel at his composure.

"Hush you." Krisikka said sharply waving her index finger at Assassin. "You shouldn't talk. My Servant just beat you up so you shouldn't talk."

"WHO THE #$&% ARE YOU PEOPLE!" The purple hared girl shrieked loosing the last scrap of her composure.

Krisikka froze staring at the purple haired girl in shock "You said a **bad** **word**!" She gasped pointing at her like she had just grown a new head.

"Mistress compose yourself." Assassin cut in, his voice sounding strained for the first time. "You would not want to endanger bystanders by drawing attention."

"I will not compose myself." The purple haired girl said, her breathing heavy. "How can you talk when you've been stabbed like that!"

Krisikka turned her head to look at the Assassin Servant and cringed slightly at the sight. The two Servants were still standing there locked together by their weapons, Assassin still gripping his blade which was caught in Lancelot's gauntlet while the pool stick stuck in him like a pin in a cushion, the edges dripping blood steadily. While Lancelot was standing firm as a statue, Assassin was begingin to slump where he stood, his face covered in sweat even as it wore a perfectly calm expression

"Oooh..." Krisikka ground out looking at Assassin with an apologetic air. "You can survive that right?"

"I take that as another offer of companionship?" Assassin returned mildly.

"An offer?" Krisikka hissed. "Look here you! You wanted a sword fight and Beserker beat you up fair and square. That means you do what I want now. That's bushdoo right?"

Assassin froze completely for a second and then let out a short laugh. "It is called Bushido foreigner, when it is called anything at all, and it dictates no such thing."

"But **we** beat **you. **And we are the only participants here right now."

"If you desire my complacence then you had best address my Mistress over such things. As for me I have seen all that I wish of your swordsmanship, save your sword itself." Drawing himself up once more he added "A servant who cannot defeat their foe has no place in this world after all..."

"I cant believe it." Assassin's Mistress breathed. "Your crazy, you cant just kill somebody! What about the regulations? What about the TSAB?"

Krissikka turned back to her with a narrow expression. With a sudden motion she raised her arm and pointed her finger at her like it was a pretend gun. "**Gandr**."

There was a sudden woshing sound and the woman lurched as if something had struck her in the chest. For a second her face seemed to turn a bit green and then she fell over onto the ground unconscious.

Krissika huffed. "Who did she think she was? Threatening to call more Magi on us. Stupid grownups!... And who the heck is the TSAB?"

*Scene *

_The theme song to the first few pages of this chapter is the "Bed Intruder song". Look it up and then listen to it while reading that part of the story and you will understand Suzukas state of mind perfectly. To tell the truth, after spending so much time in this kind of Genera, where every girl is pretty much a hard core ass kicker, it almost feels weird writing someone who is suppose to be a really helpless girly girl._

_Also its odd that the first Servant to demonstrate how the Servants are impervious to things like mundane abuse such as biting and kickin (Not to mention bullets) would be Assassin. The servant with an E in endurance. Funny how that works out eh?_

_So what I really want to know about this chapter is: How were Assassin and Lancelot?_

_For those of you who are thinking that Lancelot is acting out of character/ wondering why he is talking and not insane like in Fate Zero. Let me just tell you that there is a reason for it and I am aware of his character premise in Zero. I want to know how his character felt in relation to his legend and what little we see of him sane in Zero._

_As for Assassin how I interpret him is someone who represses or has outright eliminated most of his emotion but not all, still possessing heated passion for his art and maintaining a vague detached rather jaded interest in other things that don't pertain to his blade-work. So someone who could seem almost normal if a bit cold under most circumstances._

_For those of you who think that Assassin should be more skilled than Lancelot (Regarding pure bladwork I mean) consider this. While its true that Assassin has skill that surpasses reality, at the same time Lancelot has his own feat that sould be impossible yet is due to skill. He achieved immortal arms mastery, a skill that allows one to wield any weapon and do so unhindered even when insane. I think this puts them at about the same level skill wise. The part in the anime when she coments that it's "Been long scince I faced such unblemished swordsmanship." I like to think she was referring to either Lancelot or Tristan, or perhaps one of the one shot villain knights that she fought in the legend. Or maybe, just maybe Mordred. But I think Lancelot's the best candidate. _

_Finally a few notes on the Gandr spell. I know that most of you anime watchers have it down as that ripid fire black bolt thing Rin does, but in the source material that is a very unusual version. Originally the spell is an invisible single shot sickness curse, and Rin only has it visible and rapid fire because she is so Haxx. _

_Everything considered this Cht's action was almost a direct rip off of what happened in the visual novel between Saber and Berserker when they first met in Fate. Would you believe that this is coincidence? If you don't, that's fine I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying that it might be. You'll never know for sure. **But I will**. **: ) **_


	12. Chapter 12 Reunions

Ch 12 Reunions

The first thing that Suzuka registered as she emerged slowly from oblivion was a horrible feeling of nauseousness. For a moment as her eyes began to drift open she felt she wanted nothing more than to throw up all over the ground in front of her. It was an impulse that she restrained when she tried to open her mouth and found something preventing her. Her eyes blinking open she felt a small jolt of shock. She was gagged and, as she quickly found when she tired to get up, tied to a chair.

"mmmmm? MMMMMMMMM!"

"It is good to see that you have awakened Mistress." A familiar voice spoke from in front of her. Looking up quickly she was greeted with the sight of the Assassin man standing a few paces away watching her with his hands at his sides, his expression unreadable.

"We must apologies for the cords." Another voice came. Casting her eyes about she saw that she was in a bleak stone room of some sort with strange stone things that looked almost like alters carved out of the floor, its dark walls illuminated by a few hanging lamps that looked like they had just been put up. With the room as bare as it was it took her only a moment to identify who has spoken. In the far corner near what had to be the beginnings of a staircase was the Man in the dark armor, or the Other as she now thought of him. Sitting on a crate with a large piece of wood and a knife in his hands he to seemed to be regarding her carefully though she could not actually tell through his helmet. "It shames me to bind a madden in such a manner but we did not think that it would be wise to allow you your proper freedom of movement in your current state. As such we were worried o'er your safety had we been forced to subdue you by hand."

Suzuka took in everything he was saying with a sense of outrage. They had tied her to a chair! "Mmmmmm! Nmnmmmmmc!"

"Again I apologize for this rough treatment." The Other said. "If you will but wait a moment we will release you presently."

"Gnnnnuu!" Suzuka said starting to struggle at the ropes that tied her down. This was it. She had been captured by a trio of lunatic Mages and tied up in someones basement. She was sure that she would be more terrified at the moment if she was not so discombobulated. She had no idea what would happen if she got free but for now she felt that she simply **had** to get out of the chair she was tied to.

"Mistress _compose_ yourself." The Assassin man intoned, his voice taking on a dangerous note for the first time she had heard.

Suzuka froze in her seat. She did not know what it was but something in the mans voice stopped her short. The feeling of his steel like grip floated back into her mind stilling her mad sense of urgency to break free.

"It is unfitting for a woman to make herself such a nuisance as you have. There is no danger for you here except from yourself." Assassin said, the coldness in his tone gone but the pressure somehow still present. "You're unseemly panic is the very reason you've been bound like a prisoner."

Suzuka stayed frozen for a little wondering if he was about to go on but Assassin seemed to have finished and closed his eyes while continuing to stand facing her. She settled back into her chair, and started taking more detailed stock of herself. Whatever had happened she still felt awful, a sick, almost feverish feeling that stuck to the bottom of her belly and threatened to make her start heaving. Has she picked up some kind of bug? In any case the feeling was not helped by the sensation of being tied to a ridged chair. Her bonds, surprisingly, must have been applied with great care for her comfort and while firm did not bite into her flesh, courtesy of rags and small bits of cloth that had been used to pad the areas where the rope would have chafed.

Resigning herself to siting tight for now she cast her eyes once more around the room and, finding nothing of interest in the blank stone, found herself watching the Armored man, the only other person in the room. The formidable looking man was busy carving a large bent piece of wood with a large knife as he sat there, the knife flicking in and out with quick easy fluid strokes that spoke of a experienced hand and sent a steady rain of sliver thin wood shavings down onto his lap.

Suzuka watched him work for a while, her feeling of illness slowly fading as the seconds stretched into what must have been 10 or so minutes. Despite her discomfort she had to admit that it was oddly comforting to watch him carve. After a minute or more so of watching him work she found her focus drift from the woodwork in his hands to the figure himself. It was the first time she had seen him with a clear head she realized. Now when she was not seeing him from a distance of running towards him half panicked she was able to get a really good look at him for the first time, or rather the armor that completely sheathed his figure. Whatever it was, and however he had gotten it, it was incredibly detailed. Even with her practically nonexistent knowledge of Armor she could easily tell whatever it was it was really good, probably pretty close to what some real European knight might have actually wore in the old days. Heck, considering some of the things that Hayate had told her about the Magical world and about an old empire called Belka the Knight part probably was not that far off. She had in fact met some of the old warriors of that era herself after all, Hayates family members the Wolkenwritter actually were Knights, though their armor which she had seen one one occasion did not exactly look like the metal plate that was associated with such figures... unlike this guy.

She suppressed a shudder recalling all to clearly the battle that she had witnessed what seemed like not moments ago, the unbelievable skill and deadly intent of the two men before her had been both terrifying and mesmerizing. That, combined with the armor and... well that painted a fairly clear picture didn't it? Whoever he was the armored man, the Other, was obviously a knight like the Wolkenwritter were. She made a mental note to refer to him as such to herself in the future.

So, a real live Knight, even if he was from a different planet... hadn't Hayate said that all the Belkan knights were extinct?

She sat there idly pondering the what that might mean when their was the sound of a door opening somewhere up above them followed immediately by the sound of footsteps drawing nearer. Suzuka tensed, and the Knight looked up. This was it. Her doom, whatever it was to be had arrived. She tensed even more when the little girl in the blue dress from before made her way daintily into the chamber.

The Knight laid aside his woodwork and stood to follow as the girl made her way over to her, looking at her bound and gagged form with amused cheerfulness.

"Well." The girl started, in a small breathy voice that Suzuka could already tell was going to grate on her nerves fast. "Here we all are, I see that you are awake at last, that's wonderful." She smiled and then went on. "You know that you are very lucky, at first I was going to tie you up with a piece of soap in your mouth to wash out that dirty language you were using earlier, but unfortunately my Servant wouldn't hear of it."

"Guuuu, Gannk gu?" Suzuka made out, casting a very weirdered out glance up at the Knight.

"In any case." The girl went on gesturing loftily with her left hand . "Now that we are all here and you've woken up, we can start talking things out. So, are you okay enough to untie?"

Suzuka nodded her head intently her eyes wide, she didn't know how much longer she could stand being tied to the chair before she had a panic attack.

"Your not going to flip out and try to call your friends on us or anything? Your Servant says your very jittery."

Suzuka shook her head quickly again.

The little girl gave a grumpy sounding "Humph." And then gestured to the Knight, who strode forward an knelt down behind her. Suzuka felt a brief uncomfortable pressure as he undid the ropes and then it was gone. Her bonds slid lose and a moment later her gag was taken off as well.

Feeling slightly shaky Suzuka rose unsteady to her feet and looked hesitantly from the Knight to the Girl to the Assassin.

"So then!" The Girl chirped. "Now that you're up we can get on with this. I'm Krisikka, Krisikka Edelfelt , and this." She said gesturing once again to the Knight who had returned to his place beside her "Is my Servant Beserker, yours already knows his name so there is need to hold back. He's Lancelot. THE Lancelot." She added with a superior flourish. "And as you already saw he's a lot stronger than yours is and I'm a lot stronger than you are so there is no use trying to beat us."

"Ummmm...oh... I-I.." Suzuka made out, drawing back a little from the girl, unsure of what she was talking about. "What do you want with me?"

Krisikka gave her a weird look turning her head sideways. "Want with you? This is the Grail Crusade silly! What if I don't want anything with you? I could just have you killed." She said with a smug look and a gleam in her eye.

"But... Killed? But I'm still here..." Suzuka said, torn between a feeling of fright and a voice in her head that was telling her that this was all ridiculous, the one before her was a little girl after all.

"Exactly! I want you to be my trusted ally. Stick with us and you wont have to worry about the other Servants a bit!" Krisikka declared smiling at the end like she had just offered her something grand.

"I-Im afraid I don't, I don't know what you mean." Suzuka said backing up a little more and finding the she had run into the front of the seat that she had just left.

"It seems that my Mistress was pulled into this without her knowledge." Assassin said coming to her rescue. "She doesn't know what a Servant is."

"Hu?" Krisikka grunted sounding very ungirly as her mouth fell open. Behind her Lancelot shifted. "What do you mean you don't know what a Servant is?"

Suzuka shook her head and then gave a little "ep!" As Krisikka's face contorted into an even funner, almost horrified expression.

This time it was Krisikka's turn to fluster. "Wh-WHAT? What do you mean you don't know what a Servant is? How did you summon a Servant if you didn't know what one **is**?"

"Uh, eha well, I j-just woke up and he was there..." Suzuka said. Looking down on the smaller girl who seemed to be silently spazing out in front her and wondering whether or not she was going to blast her with Magic again.

The small girl seemed lost for words just standing there staring at her as if she had grown another head out of her armpit. Lancelot however shifted once more. Stepping out from behind his master he approached her once more making Suzuka really fall back into her seat with another frighted 'Ep!' She realized for the second time now that she was close up what a terrifying figure the Knight made. The man was gigantic, an inhuman tower of black steel to that seemed to make her smaller by his very presence.

Drawing right up to her the man leaned down towards her looking directly into her face as she shrunk back as much as she could into the seat she had only just been freed from.

"Eh? Beserker? What are you doing?" Krisikka broke in.

The Black Knight leaned in close towards her, bending at the knees to bring his head down to her level. He stooped only about a half a foot away his visor an impenetrable emotionless mask that sent shivers up her spine.

"It seems that your summoning was unusual." Lancelot said in a kindly tone that took Suzuka of guard. "You are not an enchantress." He went on in a definite yet uncondemning way. (In the background Krisikka let out a fresh exclamation of surprise) "Yet you have summoned a Servant, something that some conjurers work all their lives for, and sacrifice many things. Do you know what it is when you get something without working for it?"

"A...gift?" Suzuka answered hesitantly. Something about the question demanded that she at least try to answer and it was the first one that came to her mind.

"Yes." the Kinght replied back gravely. "Your Servant was a gift, a gift from God. And a very precious gift at that. I can see that you are scared and confused but you need not fear us. Whoever you are you were given this gift for a reason, one that surpasses whatever it is you may have planned for before now."

Suzuka felt like something was rising in her throat. She had no idea what was going on but the Knights words said all that she needed to know. Something was going on, something that would not be over in a day or a few days or maybe even a year. Something big was happening, and for the first time she was absolutely sure that it involved her in some important way. There was no mistake, like she had originally thought there must have been before. No case of getting the wrong person, Before she had wondered why the Mages were here, now she knew that they were, at least in part, there for her. "I-I"

"All is well." The Knight said to her firmly like he was soothing a young child. "You need not worry about not understanding the details at first. That is only natural. For now you must open your mind, and strengthen your heart for whatever is to come. Neither your Servant nor I shall fail to defend you if it comes to it, and you have already seen how we fair at such work."

With a feeling like she was stamping her own death warrant Suzuka nodded once slowly. That was it, she had just accepted the whole deal right there, even if it had only been that single nod she had just accepted the Knights declaration.

"Very good. Now rise up and stand on your feet dear maiden." Lancelot said straightening himself and backing up a little.

Reluctantly Suzuka rose out of the chair that she had been cowering in. Krisikka and the Assassin man, her... Servant, were both looking at her steadily now.

"Um. Well, I'm Suzuka." She started. "I suppose these are what this is all about?" She said holding up her marked hand.

Krisikka gave a little nod smirking at her like she was the butt of some joke.

"W-well, I should tell you that I don't know much about magic. Some of my friends are Mage's, that was how I found out about all of this and the TSAB, aside from that I'm just a normal girl, I was going to finish my next year of college soon..."

"The TS what?" Krisikka broke in sounding confused. "Whats the TSAB?"

"Oh! What?" Suzuka answered, thrown off track. "You don't know the TSAB?"

She shook her head. Behind her however the Knight shifted.

"But that's your government isn't it?" Suzuka asked tensely.

"Our government?" Krisikka chortled. "What are you talking about? We don't have a government, your friends must be stupid. They must be stupid."

"Mistress what have I told you about your grammar?" Lancelot said cutting in with the air of a disproving father.

Krisikka made an irritated little noise and then went back to ogling Suzuka, who was once again feeling quite out of her depth. The TSAB was _the _magical world. It was what Nanoha had always referred to, it was where the different off planet visitors were always from. They were the people who supervised everything. If none of these people had ever heard of it then who were they?

The small girl snickered to herself. "The only thing _we_ have is the Mage Association, and they don't interfere with us. Who told you about that TSA rot?"

"But, but what about the other planets a-and things? Don't you have to deal with that? If you got here th-then wouldn't you have to have known about the TSAB?"

"Other planets?" Krisikka repeated, her face warping in confusion so much that under other circumstances Suzuka would have laughed. The little kid might dress like some sort of aristocrat but she sure was not acting like one. "What are you talking about now?"

"The other planets! The place where you Mages come from." Suzulka said quickly starting to feel like she was missing something big and coming across as stupid for it."

Krisikka just paused again and then let out a high peal of unpleasant laughter.

Looking back and forth between the laughing girl, the Knight and Assassin Suzuka blushed. She could not tell what Lancelot looked like under his armor but Assassin was giving her a look like he was concerned over her sanity. It was the most expressive she had ever seen his face so far and while still subtle seemed to be out of place on his features.

"Other!... *Gasp * …. Planets!" Krisikka choked as tears started to run down her face.

"I do wonder what my Mistress meant by it." Assassin said softly. "Perhaps you mean to wax poetical?"

"So... your not from other planets then?" She asked as her blush increased.

"Of course we're not from other planets you stupid twit!" Krisikka crowed laughing harder and making faces. She was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet and looked almost in danger of loosing her balance and falling backwards onto the hard stone floor if she swayed any harder.

"O-oh." She peeped out rather lamely. "I...I thought that all you people were from off Earth... I, didn't think that there were any Mages who lived here."

"I see, so this Magi friend of yours told you that Magi were... faery's from the heavens?" Assassin made out, trying to probe where his mistress was coming from.

"I would love to meet the one who pulled the wool so far over _your_ eyes!" Krisikka gasped, still laughing. "They must have been a genius! I would have loved to meet them!"

"Mistress that's quite enough." Lancelot broke in coming up behind his Mistress and taking hold of her shoulders to steady her. "Desist with your carrying on, you are not acting in a manner fitting for a lady or a noble." He said sternly, his voice filtering out of his helmet in a soft growl that made Krisikka still.

"You're always no fun." She sniffed hiccuping a little as she stopped. "Just like mother..."

"It is not noble to make jest of one who's reason has perhaps been addled by magic." He replied smoothly. "Your Magic if you would recall, by any justice you should offer her an apology for laying her low in such a manner."

"Huuuuuuu?" She drawled back with a tone of disbelief. "You think I did that?"

"Wait, wait! I'm not crazy!" Suzuka yelped making the two look back at her again. "I-It's just that... Its just that..."

"Just that what?" Krisikka challenged in a sort of sing song voice.

"I did know some Mages from before... but... well, they weren't from here, they were from... another place..." She said trailing off with the distinct impression that she had failed to alleviate her captors suspicions of her insanity.

"Like Pluto?" Krisikka offered, her face threatening to burst out in laughter once more.

"Enough Krisikka." The Knight growled, using his mistresses name for the first time, his voice really stern now. "Whatever this maidens condition it is high time that she got out of that chair and saw the sun once more."

"Truly." Assassin said softly. He had observed the entire exchange without saying hardy a word and now his face was set back in its usual expression of mild dignified interest. He stepped forward towards her and offered his hand, which Krisikka took reluctantly, and pulled her gently to her feet. "Are you well?"

"I feel a little woozy." Suzuka gulped. In truth now that she assessed herself once more she felt stiff and more than a little dizzy, as if she had been hit on the head and then kept in one position for a long time.

"Of course. You were cursed with illness by our young friend. It has been two an a half days since you stirred." Assassin said.

"You will feel ill used for a time, your body is wounded from its long idleness." Lancelot added.

"Wait..." Suzuka said, shaking herself. "Wait **what**?"

"Gandr is a nonlethal curse, but it will still put you out for a spell." Krisikka said. She giggled. "Get it? A spell? It will put you out for a _spell_?"

Suzuka stopped in her treks "I've been out for two days?" She gasped going rigid and feeling suddenly much more dizzy. "What have... What have I been doing for two days!"

"You have been asleep." Assassin said taking her alarm into stride. Very gently he gave her arm another pull and continued leading a very out of sorts Suzuka towards the stairs. He was beginning to grow accustomed to alarm being his Mistresses normal state of mind. If what he knew about women was correct, and it was true that she knew nothing of the situation in which she was thrust then this could foreseeably be her normal state for a long time.

"I've been asleep for two days..." Suzuka muttered looking at the floor vacantly as the walked along. "Everyone will be looking for me!" She stopped and tugged on Assassins arm. "Ah- Mister A-Assassin, Everybody will be wondering where I am!"

"Yes, I suppose they will." Assassin said glancing down at her.

"I need to get to a phone! I need to call my family and tell them where I am!"

"And what will you tell them?" Assassin asked, his voice carrying no inflection.

"That I... That I...That I got picked p my some Mages and I'll have to be gone for a while."

"Your whole _family_ knows about Magi?" Krisikka said giving her a new look of surprise.

"Well yes..." Suzuka said. "I told you that some of my friends were Mages, everybody in my family knows."

"Are you sure that your family isn't something special?" The small girl asked giving her another suspicious look. "I didn't think that the Mages Association tolerated that many normal people knowing about us."

"Eh.. tolerate?" Suzuka asked getting a nervous feeling from the word.

Krisikka didn't respond but only gave her a half curious half suspicious look as if trying to determine whether or not to take her at her word.

"But... in any case I have to tell them!" Suzuka went on pressing her point with a pleading voice. She was suddenly conscious that she was begging a little girl to allow her to call her family and felt rather pathetic for it.

"Fine, you can call them." Krisikka grumbled. "But only _after _we tell you whats going on."

"A-alright..." Suzuka murmured as Assassin gave her another small nudge to keep moving.

They reached the foot of the stairs and started ascending, leaving the plain stone room behind and coming up the long stairway till they reached a door and passed through it into a much smaller room with a wooden floor and windows. Though it was simple and had cloths draped over all its furniture like it was being renovated, it was infinitely beter than the blank stone room below. While that room had had nothing except a few lights, her chair and the few crates that Lancelot had been siting on, this room was obviously meant to be hospitable with a white ceiling and a vase of dead flowers siting in one one of the windowsills. Outside was some sort of garden that seemed to be in a state of disrepair, the plants and several flower bushes in view overgrown and fighting with each other while the green lawn was tall and shaggy. From the light poring through the window it looked to be sometime in the afternoon.

They went from this room through another door that opened out into a big hall, with rows and rows of benches facing them and what could only be an alter standing a little in front of them.

Suzuka blinked in surprise, it was a sanctuary. "We're in a Church?"

"Yup." Krisikka chirped.

"Indeed, this was where we were suppose to meet with the other participants in the Crusade." The dark clad Knight elaborated. "However it seems that we did not make it in time. The others have left without us and we have been unable to find them or discern their whereabouts."

"I'm, sorry." Suzuka said shaking her head, lost. "Who are you talking about?"

"Hmmm..." Krisikka hummed after a small pause. " I guess we should start from the beginning... immm how much do you know about us Magi?"

"Well..." She started wondering what to say. She would have said that she knew that Mages were people from different planets who had unraveled that arts of Magic through discipline and advanced technology. (That was almost word for word how she had heard it explained after all) but the people here had already shot down her explanation of how Mages were from another planet, and most of what she knew centered around that fact. Whoever they were she didn't want to be laughed at again...

"Umm, well, I know that Magic is real... and, um, I know about familiars and stuff like that... and, well, I know you have... advanced... technology... and things..." She gave them all a nervous look. Krisikka was looking at her like she was being funny again while the others she could not tell. "So.. yes."

"Really." Krisikka said sarcasticly. "So you don't know anything in other words." She let out a dramatic sigh of exasperation. "Okay! So listen up!" She snapped trying to sound cross but coming of as very smug. "Maguses like myself are members of special family's that have cultivated our Magecraft for generations. We use things inside us called Magic Circuits to manipulate power we call Prana so that we can alter the world."

"You mean like a Linker Core?"

"A what?"Krisika asked with a blank expression.

"N-Nothing"

"Don't Interrupt me! That's rude! You shouldn't interrupt me."

"You don't have to repeat yourself-"  
"I said don't_ interrupt me_!"

Suzuka fell silent, holding her hands up in surrender before the little imp and her temper. She noticed that the Knight looked like he was about to reprimand his Mistress again but apparently decided to let it slip as the little blond girl went on.

"Like I was saying, Magus like me can manipulate the world around them with Magecraft. Things like controlling fire or making familiars or seeing things far away are all within our abilitys.

"Or things like flying." Suzuka added before she could help herself.

"Hmmm, no, Magi cant fly." Krisikka said. "Or at least none that I've ever heard of... not in this day and age at least."

Suzuka blinked, Mages couldn't fly? But that was ridiculous, Nanoha and Fate flew all the time, she had seen it with her own eyes, and more so even been carried by them through the the air on one occasion. She was about to comment on this but stopped. These people didn't know who the TSAB were, they didnt seem to know what a linker core was... they dident seem to agree with anything she knew about Magic. For the first time the possibility that these people were unrelated to the TSAB crossed Suzukas mind. It was a strange thought to her, but now that she thought about it it seemed more likely.

In that case just who were these people? Were they even Mages? Yet they obviously had Magic. Suzuka felt a huge feeling of... she didn't even know what sweep over her. She was confused, so confused, how could two people give such conflicting accounts of what the Magical world was like?

"-even things like hypnosis are possible for us. We've been around for a long long time but we hide ourselves from the rest of the world so we can do what we want without you people butting in and wreaking everything."

Suzuka blinked again. The reason that the TSAB hid itself was so that Earth would develop naturally and discover Magic when it was ready. These people however were apparently hiding from the rest of the world for the opposite reason. It was a puzzle that was bothering her more and more. The more she listened the less this sounded like the Magical world that she was familiar with. What did it all mean?

"Anyway a long time ago some Magi got together and pooled their power to make a thing they called the Holy Grail."

"The Holy Grail? Suzuka blurted out. "You cant mean-"

"No not the cup." Krisikka said quickly, prepared for the question. "They just called it that because of how important and powerful it was and things like that. Its a super Mystic Code, a really big one that can do a lot of things. So everybody wants it so that they can do a lot of things with it and be the best at everything."

"Perhaps if I clarified" Assassin interrupted, causing Krisikka to shoot him a look that would not have been out of place on a spoiled toddler. "The Holy Grail is an object of power, one that can be used to grant the wielder any wish they so desire."

"Ohhh!" Suzuka gasped her eyes widening at Assassins words.

"So now you get it." Krisikka said forgetting her annoyance with Assassin to smirk at her. Behind her the Knight shifted, not seeming pleased with Suzuka's reaction.

But it was not the prospect of a object that granted wishes that had made Suzuka gasp, rather it was her memory of a similar series of objects that Nanoha had described to her when they were young. The Jewel Seeds that had caused so much trouble for her friend. Was this what they were talking about? Were there still stray Lost Logia on Earth that were being pursued by criminals again?

"The Holy Grail does not permit itself to be touched by just anyone though of course." Krisikka said cutting across her flashback. "To determine the rightful owner the Grail selects participants to compete for it and then summons beings called Heroic Spirits to act as Servants and help the competitors fight each other." She paused and gave a huge grin, her voice turning intolerably high pitched with excitement. "Both of us have been selected to participate!"

"Eh? What? Both of us?" Suzuka made out her stomach suddenly turning over. "But I didn't volunteer for anything like this!"

"It doesn't mater! The Grail has chosen you, it gave you a Servant and Command seals, so your set!" The girl said pivoting back and forth at the waist so that her dress spun around.

"I-I see, so what do I need to do?"

"Hmmm, well that's where things get a little complicated." Krisikka said. "Normally you and your servant would fight all the others to the death and the wining team would take all."  
"W-_What!_" Suzuka yelped, recoiling at the thought.

"But things are a bit different this time around." The girl went on. "The thing is that somebody took the Grail without winning it and ran off with the thing. So now instead of a roper war like everybody thought the Grail summoned a bunch of Servants and wants us to go after it and take it back from whoever took it."

"The Grail wants us to... Is the Grail intelligent?"

Krisikka shrugged.

"So.. so we were given these... Servants... because the Grail wants us to kill each other with them so we can get it, only this time it... doesn't and instead wants us to steel it back from somebody who took it without killing other people for it?"

The girl in the blue dress put her finger to her chin and looked upwards before nodding once sharply.

"But I've never even... I've never even _heard _anything about this." Suzuka moaned."Why did I get picked for something that I don't have anything to do with?"

"I don'know." Krisikka said shrugging again.

"While it may seem that you were chosen at random, I assure you that nothing happens without a reason." The Knight said firmly. "This is more than a simple hunt for a magical artifact, it is a great quest. Perhaps even more so for you who has no grasp of the arcane. It was no accident that you received a Servant, and that he is being supplied with prana without your intersession."

"I don't even know what any of that means!" Suzuka cried.

"It means that you were given me, but for some reason don't have to pay the usual price required to keep me in the world." Assassin said plainly.

"The usual price? Wait, are you like a familiar?" Suzuka asked.

"You catch on quickly." Assassin remarked with a barley perceptible note of surprise.

Suzuka had in fact surprised herself with her quick guess, though days afterwords when she had time to reflect on it she would realize that the Sevants bore to many similarity's with the Wolkenritter who she knew for her to be completely in the dark.

"In some ways yes. Actually that is basically what they are truth be told." Krisikka said slowly, as if reluctant to admit that Suzuka had been right. "Though of course, a Servant is naturally superior to any familiar."

Suzuka felt a little twinge of offense at Krisikkas statement. Arf, Fates best friend and a close acquaintance of her as well was a familiar after all, and she knew for a fact that Arf was stronger than most Mages were.

"What are you anyway." She asked, addressing Assassin. "You said that you were a... ghost, but what did you really mean?"

There was a small silence. Krisikka giggled making a fresh wave of nervousness wash over her.

"Only what I said I was. Assassin pronounced with dead seriousness. "Nothing less, and only a little more."

"...That cant be true." Suzuka said, weighing what she knew against what she was being told.

"And why can it not be true?"Assassin asked softy.

"Because there's no such thing as ghosts. At least not ones like in the movies, and besides I can touch you." She said pointing out the obvious.

"Yes, you can touch me, but I am not just a Yurei, not right now at least."

"Not even Mages believe in ghosts, and they know Magic." Suzuka said stiffly.

"What would you know about what Magi believe in?" Krisikka snapped. "You thought we came from another planet two minutes ago. Of course there are ghosts. There's wraiths and faeries and all sorts of things you 'normal' people don't believe in."

Suzuka took a step back and blinked for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Once when she had been little, and had just learned about Magic from Nanoha she had asked Lindy Harlown whether or not other common mythological elements were also real. She remembered feeling a little twinge of disappointment when the green haired woman had laughed lightly and told her no.

And now here she was being told that 'yes' faeries and ghosts did in fact exist by a trio of Mages who had kidnapped her, knew nothing of the TSAB, contradicted several things that she knew to be true about Mages, and whose sanity she was not yet convinced of.

And who were also quite willing to tie her to a chair or possibly hurt her if she did not go along with what they said.

"I... I see. Yes... I believe you."

"Good." The girl said sounding smug.

"So... What is a Servant then?" Suzuka pressed. Though she felt quite certain that she couldn't trust anything that came out of the girls mouth at this point but the presence of the two men demanded an explanation even if it was a false one. She had to know at least someones version of what it was that was now bound to her. "A ghost?"

"Nothing so mundane. As if the Holy Grail would entrust an event like this to some simple dead guy." Krisikka declared. "This is a battle over the most powerful artifact in the world!"

"So then its not a Ghost?"

Krisikka paused as if thinking where to begin. "The Grail is a great artifact see? And so when the Grail War was established they only wanted the most powerful, most worthiest combatants fighting for it. To ensure this the Grail summons..." She paused here and made a flourishing gesture with her hands. "A Heroic Spirit!"

"Heroic Spirit?" Suzuka said repeating the word to herself.

"A Heroic Spirit." Krisikka said cryptically "is a person who's deeds in life immortalized them and became Legends. After they die their fame causes them to ascend beyond the normal cycle of life and death to a place called the Throne of Hero's! There they live on as personifications of their legends and all they embodied in life, empowered by the admiration and belief of all those who know their story. They become powerful semi divine spirits who's power far outstrips that of mortals. The Grail summons these Spirits from the Throne for the war and gives them body's made from pure prana. The Heroic Spirits are each given to a Master who ensures that they can continue to exist in the world by given them prana like a familiar. In return the Heroic Spirit serves its Master and the two fight together until they achieve the Grail!" Krisikka finished with another dramatic little flourish, gazing up at Suzuka to gauge her reaction.

Suzuka just stood there looking back. While she had heard what the girl had said, she was uncertain of whether or not she had properly comprehended any of it, so full had it been with words like 'acended' and 'embodied'. "So, then... Hero's? I'm not sure what you mean."

"Yes, Hero's!" Krisikka said letting out an angry breath of air. "The Servant are Hero's, all the old legends people read about today! Hercules and King Arthur and Odysseus and Achilles and all the rest of them. The Grail summons their spirits as Servants."

Suzuka realized distantly that her mouth had fallen open and she closed it quickly. "Wait... you mean that they.." She said slowly pointing to the two men. "Are suppose to be storybook characters?"

"Their not storybook characters!" Krisikka whined aggrievedly. "They're the real thing, the real Hero's who made the legends."

Suzuka leaned forward slightly looking down at the small girl in front of her in disbelief. There was no way. "Krisikka...faery tails aren't _real._"

"That is where you are wrong young lady." Surprisingly it was the Knight who had answered her, responding before his young master could make a reply. "Whatever it is you have been told or come to believe in this day and age what my Mistress told you is the truth."

"That cant be." Suzuka said trying to keep from stuttering while she was facing the armored man. If it was true that they thought this then she had to tell the TSAB. Tell them what was going on before these lunatics did anything.

Lunatics. They had to be lunatics, even the Knight who seemed so calm and so trustworthy. Especially the Knight, who was he? Catering to the demands of a spoiled, megalomaniacl little girl. They were all hurt in the head and dangerous. They had to be. "Why are you supporting this? You cant seriously... you cant seriously think your somebody from a story."

The events of the night before she had been knocked out flashed through her mind again. The insane speed and skill with which the two Servants had fought. The name that Krisikka had called the armored man only a few minutes before in the room below came back to her. "You cant really be Lancelot"

"The same." The Knight answered in a voice that held no doubt. Carefully the armored man reached upwards and to the back of his neck undoing some sort of clasp and pulling his helm from his head.

Dark hair spilled out, falling down onto his shoulders, his face was deep and handsome, fair but marked by a few scars and possessing a somber melancholy look to it, emphasized by dark eyes that gazed down on her with steady unwavering regard. Deep pools of firm, slow sanity that seemed to sweep away all her doubt. "I am Sir Lancelot du Lac. Former Knight of the Round Table and Lord of Joyous Guard in the time of Arthur. I have answered the Grails call and I serve the girl who stands before you, for now until the Grail is recovered and all is set to right."

Suzuka stared at him eyes wide feeling like she was about to choke. She didn't know why, half of her was still yelling that this was all a delusion dreamed up by lunatics, but in front of this mans eyes she couldn't _not_ believe it. There was something about him, a presence that reeked of the mythical and peeled away all skepticism. Maybe he was hypnotizing her into believing him? It didn't mater, for now she knew it was true."Oh... oh my gosh... y-your really... your the guy who slept with King Arthur's wife?"

The moment Suzuka said it she regretted it. Lancelot's face flushed and he turned his head away, quickly replacing his helmet as he did so with an almost frantic motion. Next to him Krisikka gave a little squeak.

"S-Sorry!" Suzuka gasped frantically. "I-Im so sorry I didn't mean to say that! I'm sorry!"

"Y-You ugly **hag**!" Krisikka shouted making her flinch. "What did you say to my Servant! You take that back you nasty witch or-!"

"Mistress that is enough." Lancelot said stepping between her and the shouting girl, his composure restored. "It was but a slip of the tongue I'm sure."

"I-I'm so sorry! My mouth just moved on its own! I don't know what I was thinking!"

"Perhaps if my Mistress were to observe the art of silence more she would have refrained from making such an utterly rude and foolish accusation." Assassin said, disapproval clear in his voice as he spoke out for the first time in a while. Suzuka nearly jumped again. She had almost forgotten that he was there.

Suzuka started to apologize again but then caught her Servants eye and decided to seal her lips. The blue haired man was giving her an angry look that made her shiver despite its relative mildness. Her statement, no, her lack of consideration had offended him possibly even more than it had offended the Knight. Or Lancelot as she now knew his name was.

"That is all right. The lady meant nothing by it." Lancelot said. "For now we should finish informing her. Please tell us what other questions you might have."

"H-how did this happen? What are you all here for? And why

"You still do not believe us." The Knight said coming up behind her suddenly, making Suzuka jump. "Though I do not understand why."

"It's just so... Impossible."

"Why? Because we are returned from the dead?"

"... Well... y-yes. That's part of it." Suzuka said, trying to find the right words.

"If it is any assurance to you the blood that flows through our veins is warm. Though we are returned from death we are not unliving. Though that is not what concerns you perhaps?"

Suzuka thought it over. The knowledge did not really change anything, the possibility that they were like vampires or something had never crossed her mind. No it was something else. Something simple. "Its just that... well, I already knew about magic, I thought things like this didn't happen. People in this day don't tolerate ideas like the dead returning anymore. We are taught that anyone who believes things like that is... insane."

Assassin cocked his head slightly. "So you believe that you have become wounded in the head? Didn't you know already that Magic governed things such as this? If you believed in magic already in this day then why did you not doubt your sanity them."

Suzuka shifted in her seat uncomfortably. While his expression was non threatening Assassins face was not warm either, and behind his eternal calmness she felt like she could sense a hardness that was not at all like Lancelot felt. For a split second she wondered if she could swap Servants with the noble girl.

"Well... at the time I guess I did think I was going crazy... yeah."

"So this is merely the next step up from what you thought you knew. If you consider it carefully with a measure of discipline then you will understand that this is not so surprising. Would one who did not know of the ways of Magi say that any Magic was impossible? But you know this as truth."

Suzuka glanced away, not meeting the tall mans eyes. She didn't know if it would hold up in a logic class but it made a measure of sense.

The words of the acclaimed Lancelot floated back to her, loud and clear, fresh as they were from only a few minutes ago. "_You need not worry about not understanding the details at first. That is only natural. For now you must open your mind, and strengthen your heart for whatever is to come." _

"Alright." She said, looking back up into Assassins face. "I'll go like this for now."

"Then you have made your fist step towards being an acceptable Master."

"Oh- yes." She mumbled quickly stumbling over the simple praise." A-alright." With hesitant steps she got up and begun to make her way back over to the alter. Like the Knight had said, right now she didn't need to understand every little detail, as long as she could grasp the situation. "Mister Lancelot? Um, Krisikka?" She called out trying to make her voice carry It did not quite come out what she was aiming for but it was enough, and a shortly the small aggressive form of the little girl emerged from one of the back rooms followed shortly by the dark figure of Lancelot.

"I'm all right now." She said. "I believe you... and I want to know more about this."

"It took you that long to decide that?" Krisikka said. "What else do you want to know?"

"Ummm, well... where are we going?"

"We don't know yet. Look, if you really don't know anything then I should start from the top on a few things." Krisikka said.

"Oh- alright." Suzuka said quickly, rather relived. It looked like the rather snot headed girl was at last going to start being helpful.

"So, the first thing you should know is that all servants are divided up into seven classes. The classes highlight their skills and ability's that they had in life and dictate what role the Servant will play in the war. The classes are, Saber, Beserker, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster and Assassin. Each class has a different role, Sabers are suppose to be the be the best and they fight everything head on like traditional Hero's and knights, Beserkers are really strong (Here she gave Lancelot a fond look) and can go crazy to get stronger." Here her voice faltered slightly. "But that doesn't mean that they have to... and Lancelot is strong enough to get on without that anyway. He fights like a Saber instead, because he likes it better that way."

Suzuka nodded softly. She felt quite sure that their was some sort of contention regarding that subject though what it was she couldn't hazard to guess what it was. In any case Beserkers did not sound pleasant. Sacrificing sanity for power struck her at once as a ridiculous thing to do. After all wasn't it once Nanoha's job to bind things like that?

"Archers are bowmen, they can attack from miles away and can pick other Servants apart with their arrows. Also they take the least to support so they an work very independently so they can be really troublesome."

"Lancers are the fastest and often use spears, Riders usually fight from mounts and have good Noble Phantasms."

"Sorry, Noble whats?" Suzuka asked not identifying the term.

"Oooohhhh, I forgot you wouldn't know about that. A Noble Phantasm is an artifact that has ascended into legend with its owner upon death. Think like Kullervo's magical sword."

The name drew a complete blank for Suzuka. "... Who?"

"Oh." Krisikka said taping her finger on her chin. "I forgot, you probably don't know that one. Think like a magical artifact, any one from mythology that is super famous and everybody knows about. That would be a Noble Phantasim. A weapon that's so famous that its ascended just like a Heroic Spirit."

"Alright." Suzuka said starting to feel once again that this was all rather fruity.

"So where was I? Oh, Riders."

"They usually have Noble Phantasms?" Suzuka offered.

"Well no, almost all Servants have Noble Phantasms, its just that Riders tend to have very good ones. Anyway Riders are often horsemen. Hero's who did not accomplish their deeds on foot."

"Casters are Servants who are Magi like us. Or me if you will." Krisikka said correcting herself. "They aren't very strong but they're from a time long gone and have a lot of Magicraft that we Mages in modern times cant duplicate anymore."

"But wait how's that possible?" Suzuka asked. "Isn't Magic and technology getting more advanced all the time? So wouldn't a Mage from the far past be a lot weaker than Mages today?"

"Whose the Magus here again?" Krisikka demanded after a small pause. "That's the complete opposite of how things really work. Magcraft from long ago is a lot better than it is nowadays"

"T-that doesn't really make much sense, I mean wouldn't things from a long time ago just be more primitive? After all we have perfected what the older generations started didn't we?" Suzuka said. She could concede that she might be wrong on a few of the things she had thought she had known but this was a bit to far out for her to take.

"That just shows how little you know! Naturally older things are stronger than newer things. Magecraft in the past was closer to the root than it is now and the rules were all different back then. That goes for Magecraft as well as everything else to." Krisikka declared loftily.

"Are you sure that's right?" Suzuka started, hoping to heaven above that she did not seriously believe that.

"Of course I'm sure! Anyway where was I?"

Inside Suzuka gave a little sigh. It seemed that the girl before her was not the type to see reason or even be open to discussion or her claims. It made her feel a little weary. She hated having to deal with people like this, it made her nervous. You could never tell when they were going to do something random because they thought it was a good idea. How ironic it was that Arissa, her best friend for all time, was just that kind of person as well. So strange. She was such a level headed, good girl. She was always quite and did what others expected of her. So why was she always saddled with people like this?

"Casters tend to play things from behind, and use their power to manipulate the battlefield."

"And finally Assassins." She said with a little flourish towards the blue haired Samiri across from her. "Assassins are Servants who are endowed with great powers in the realms of stealth, they work mostly by attacking the Master from behind when the Servant is not immediately present, though yours seems to be very different." She added.

"Indeed." Assassin said. "While it seems that I have been summoned into the Assassin class I am poorly suited for such a role. My sole skill worthy of mention is that of swordsmanship, I have no training in the art of the Shinobi."

"Oh? Well, that's okay." Suzuka said. She felt a little suspicious as to the whole Class thing in the first place but she found herself feeling a little more assured now that the Samurai, a man who already intimidated her didn't seem to want to sneak around killing people.

"That is no sorry thing." Lancelot said. "It is good to know that the ranks of the Assassin class are thinned, especially if they are being replaced with such masterful warriors."

Assassin gave a little nod, an almost imperceptible tilting of his head towards Lancelot that the Knight almost missed. "I have no use for such a thing as stealth. Anything that cannot be decided between two Masters holds no interest for me."

"I have to say its good to know that I wont have to make Beserker keep an eye on you all the time." Krisikka said, sounding happy herself.

"So, all these classes, this is all so that you can fight each-other?" Suzuka asked.

"Yup. All the classes kind of balance each other see?" Krisikka said. "For example, Beserkers have low magical resistance."

"Low what?"

"Never mind, Ill tell you later." Kirsikka said impatiently. "Anyway Beserkers are super strong, but they're vulnerable to magic so they have a natural enemy in Casters see? But they're good against Sabers because they both rely on face to face combat and Beserkers are stronger in that way. And Sabers are good vs Casters because they have very high magical resistance. Meanwhile Archers have great senses like sight, so they are great against Assassins because they can spot them. But Lancers are good against Archers because they're so fast and they can cover the distance that Archers need so quickly the Archers cant shoot at them so well."

"I see, I think I follow you. Each class has advantages against certain others." Suzuka said. "But I mean, if this is all so that you can fight then were is everybody?"

Her question brought a little silence to the room.

"Well." Krisikka said at last. "That's the thing we don't really know. We kind of... we kind of got here late I think. Lancelot thinks the others left without us..."

Suzuka blinked. "Wait so all these other Servants you were talking about are just gone? What happened?"

"We don't know. We just... got here and they were gone. Beserker thinks that something happened to make them leave early. There was even a dead lady by the alter when we got here." Krisikka said in a hushed voice. "There were bloodstains all _over_ the place. Beserker cleaned them up though."

"It is a grave offense to leave a house of the Lord so sullied with death." The Knight said darkly. "Whether by my hand or by God's, whoever was responsible will not go unpunished for such an act."

"Somebody _died_ here already?" Suzuka gasped, her gaze wiping over to the alter that they had spoken of. It was a simple thing, stone with a cloth draped over it and a few religious articles placed reverently on top. It looked clean but never the less Suzuka felt her stomach clench at the thought of it being stained with blood.

"Despicable as they are, such things do happen in war." Lancelot said moving over to the alter and laying his armored hand on it. "In any case the perpetrator is far out of our reach now. Before we can do anything we must seek the others out."

"So why haven't you?" Assassin asked smoothly. "Unless I am mistaken then you have both been siting here for quite some time."

"Gah! How do you know that?" Krisikka demanded sounding embarrassed. Lancelot however just nodded.

"You two seem to know your way around this strange temple well, also you have supply's stored up in that chamber below." Assassin said. "This is not a matter of long training to see that you have stayed here for several days at the least."

"Before anything else." Lancelot said looking directly at Assassin with a hint of sternness in his voice. "You will know that this is no 'strange temple'. It is a sanctuary, a dwelling place of the most High God. I will not suffer you to confuse it with some pagan wayshrine."

Suzuka blinked hard several times at the Knights statement, suppressing a little gasp of something like indignation.

"Forgive me Sir Knight." Assassin said, his eyebrows rising a little. "But I am unfamiliar with the beliefs of foreigners. I was unaware that your temples had grown prevalent in my country."

"Never the less this is the price I demand for my victory earlier." Lancelot said firmly.

For a small moment Suzuka felt tense wondering if Assassin was about to refuse, but the next moment the Samurai gave a little nod, inclining his head towards the alter and then the Knight who it seemed was satisfied with the gesture.

"Excellent." Lancelot declared. "As for your other question, when we first got here we searched far and wide for news of the others. We found nothing I'm afraid. Only a day or so ago we made contact with the Mages Association. They were dismayed when they learned of the dead woman. Samantha Green they named her, but they wont tell us anything for now. I don't believe that any of them considered that a Servant or two would be left behind, though I cannot claim to understand the workings of the Mages Association."

"I see. So we are lost." Assassin said, taking the news without any sign of annoyance.

"It seems so. Until we can discover at least something of what became of the others then we have no recourse but to wait here and tarry upon the Mages Associations convenience. Perhaps if we had some Idea of were the others had gone and who they were looking for then we could pick up their trail, but I was Mad at the time the grail called me forth, and I do not remember who it was we were meant to fight." Lancelot said, finishing his evaluation and leaving the room silent.

Krisikka was looking at the ground, an expression like that of a child put on time out stretched across her face. Suzuka didn't know what to think and was wondering who this Mages association was while Assassin just stood there as always, eyes mild, his hands laying at his side in a dignified fashion.

"Stupid grownups." Kirsikka muttered after a while.

"...So, all that stuff you told me about is going on somewhere else while we get to just sit here?" Suzuka said starting to feel relived. Maybe she wouldn't be going on an adventure after all. That was fine with her. She already felt like she had had enough adventure for her whole life.

*Scene *

The sun had left its high place in the sky and was starting to lean down towards the horizon as Suzuka walked down the street. Never the less the dim light of evening was still far off and it was as bright as noonday as she walked along looking for a payphone to call her family from. Payphones were a rare thing these days with the advent of the cellphone, but still present if you knew where to look. Unfortunately Suzuka had never been to Fuyuki city before and so she had no idea where to look. Her search had taken almost an hour so far, even after asking for directions several times from passers by and she was feeling nervous. It was past 5 o'clock now and she had bee asleep for two days. What if her family thought she had been killed or something? She would never be able to live putting them through something like that down.

Aside from that the nebulous presence that had been following her all day was not serving to make her more confidant. Upon learning that she planned to go out that day Assassin had dissolved, literally _dissolved_ in front of her and from what she could tell was now hanging around her invisibly somewhere behind her right shoulder.

It was an unsettling feeling, especially when he had whispered to her for the first time, a small inaudible but unmistakable voice that had made her nearly jump into the road and kill herself in fright.

It was a long walk through town but she finally spotted one, coming up to a bus stop with a few other people seated around it.

Walking up to it she inserted the quarters she had borrowed from Krisikka and dialed, waiting a while for the tone. It rung twice before it was picked up. "Hello?" The familiar voice of her friend Arisa Bannings came. "Who is this?"

"A-ah, Arisa its me!"

"... SUZUKA!" Arisa shouted so loud that she made her friend hold the phone away from her ear, a reversal of what she had done three days before in the hotel.

"Yes-yes its me." She whispered back into the phone.  
"Suzuka! Where are you? What happened? Are you okay?"

"Y-yes I'm all right, don't worry I'm not hurt. I'm in Fuyuki City."

"What happened!" The voice on the other end hissed.

"I-I dont-, are they worried about me?"

"Wa- Suzuka what happened to you! You disappeared nearly three days ago after some sort of fight in a lot. You called the police and then disappeared! They've got all kinds of people looking for you! Your face is on TV as a kidnapping victim!"

"O-Oh!" She gasped, her mind reeling. Of course! She had called the police reporting a fight and then disappeared! Of course they would have taken that in the worse possible way.

"Where are you? Your parents think you've been killed or something!" Arisa cried. "I thought you were... I thought you were in trouble!"

Suzuka could feel herself freeze up. She had never heard Arisa talk this way before, not for years and years. It was always her who was panicking, always her who was upset over everything. Hearing Arisa talking like this was surreal.

Her reflection couldn't go on however. As if aware that she was staling the presence behind her changed. It grew thicker, and for a second she almost thought that she could feel it pushing on her shoulder. She could feel it, feel him gazing sternly at her. _Don't freeze up_. He whispered. _Say what you need and do what you will or don't, never become frozen._

"Listen, Arisa. I need to tell you something." She said, steadiness returning to her voice.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Listen, I know I was gone a long time, and I'm sorry but I didn't mean to disappear like that. Listen" She started whispering, making sure that none of the other people at the bus stop could hear what she was saying. She could tell from the weird rusteling sound coming through the line that Arissa was pressing the phone to her ear as her ad posible. "I ran into some people-"

"What? What people?" Arisa hissed.

"Stop, just listen. I ran into some people, Arisa its Magic."

The breathing on the other end stopped. "Magic?"

"Yes, its Magic, I ran into some Mages, its a long story."  
"Nanoha, is Nanoha there?"

"No, no Nanoha is not here, we don't know any of these people, they're really weird. They're not with the TSAB. Look I... I may have to be gone for a little while."

"WHAT?" Arisa screeched. "Your not coming back? Suzuka, you cant do that!"

"Arisa, I have to, these people aren't going to let me go."

There was a pause and when the voice of her lifelong friend returned it was tinted with outrage. "Are they keeping you against you're will?"

"N-no. Look, its like last time, its like... end of the world stuff again I think."

"End of the world stuff again? Whats going on?... is it another Lost Logia?"

"S-somthing like that, look, I cant return home for a while. Tell mom and dad and everyone what is going on and that I'm alright."

"Wait! Don't go! I'm going to call the TSAB, they can come and sort this all out."

Suzuka paused for a second. The TSAB. If Arisa called them then they really could sort all this mess out. They could rescue her and get to the bottom of all this Grail business.

It was one of those queer moments, one of the occasional times when a course is clear and someone for some reason doesn't take it. Latter on, and indeed in only a few days she would curse herself for her folly at this moment, because it was here that she later reflected everything could have been resolved. Arisa could have called the TSAB, and she could have gone on and been rescued by them a few days or weeks later, while her strange captors could have been taken and subdued or given what they wanted.

But something happened then, something that prevented her from telling Arisa to go ahead and get the TSAB. It was simply the invisible presence that loomed over her shoulder a strange and alien weight that made her afraid to say 'alright'. She would remember later that Assassin didn't know what the TSAB was, but for now she forgot. If she told Arisa to get them then Assassin would kill her or something. That was her line of thought at the time. It did not make perfect sense but it was her line of thought and it changed the way that everything could have gone and caused much grief.

But it was not all bad. For if she had done so she would also realize later that many TSAB officers would have died trying to apprehend the Servants. And besides if she had had them called for, she would have missed many wondrous things. And for that she was- much later on of course- happy.

"...No... no Arisa don't do that."

"What? Why not?" She demanded.

"Its- uh- its hard to explain, look don't call the TSAB."

"Where are you?" Arisa repeated, sounding more worried than ever.

"I- I told you I'm in Fuyuki City-"

"Where are you **really**,where are you in Fuyuki?"

"I- I shouldn't-"

"Suzuka tell me or I'll contact the TSAB no matter what you say! You cant leave me alone like this not knowing where you are or whats going on!" Arisa nearly yelled over the line. Suzuka cringed. She hatted this.

"I'm staying in this Church, okay?" Quickly, and worried all the time that Assassin was going to materialized and do something to her, Suzuka told Arisa where the church was. Almost as soon as she was finished Arisa was asking her if she was sure she wasn't hurt and then the blond girl from America, her dearest friend all her life closed her cellphone with a snap.

Slowly Suzuka put the phone back in its cradle and turned, wanting to plop down on the bus stop bench. She stopped when she saw that nearly all the people in the stop were looking at her curiously. Walking away from them at a bit o a brisk trot she crossed the road, not bothering with the walk and just crossing at the next biggest gap in the traffic.

Jaywalking. She almost never did anything like it, being for the most part one of those timid souls who waits for the crosswalk to turn green even when the coast is perfectly clear. (Much latter in life, when the whole affair was behind her she would often joke that her first dissent into crime because of the Grail incident was jaywalking) Crossing the street quickly she plopped down on one of the sidewalk benches and laid her chin on her hands.

_Well?_ Assassins presence inquired. _You have fulfilled your goal, you have relayed your message to your family. What will you do now? Will you sit here and wallow in your misfortunes, oh Master? _

Suzuka felt a flash of irritation that was most unlike her. "Oh leave me alone." She muttered sullenly. If she knew anything about Arisa, and she did, then the blond haired girl would try to reach her. Even from her hometown it would only take a few hours of hard driving to get here. And only a few more to find the Church. Now she had drug Arisa into all this resurrected hero's nonsense.

Behind her back and quite unsympathetic to his Mistresses woes at the moment was Assassin. The tall, fair skinned Servant had been watching his Mistress all day long from over her shoulder. The girl, he decided from what he had seen today, was severely lacking in any kind of relevant training, save perhaps that he had not yet seen her preform in the kitchen and could not yet judge her in regards to the more traditional domestic duties. Apart from that however he found that he was probably looking at what other Servants would consider a lost cause.

Not so much for him though. Whoever this girl was he was sure of one thing. She would demand nothing of him. That itself was a reason enough to value her. Though he would certainly not tolerate unseemliness from her. Yes that was something that was worth correcting, even in a simpleton. He supposed that sooner or later he would instruct her in the proper way of Walking and Breathing. That art seemed to be all but lost in this age anyhow, it would be proper to instill his Mistress with some discipline. It was not as though they would be going anywhere for quite some time... A pity. In some ways. At least he would have time to accustom himself to this world more, as well as instruct his Mistress.

Assassins spirit shifted in the air as he lingered there, his mind snapping back to a more present matter. The little thing that he had been keeping track of almost since they had left the church. His Mistress was being followed. The tail seemed to consist of two people as far as he could tell, two tall, pale ,light haired men who were trailing behind them always stopping when they stopped and never getting to close or veering off to far. Assassin had a good idea of who it was to. And if he was not mistaken then they could use further training as well. Training in the art of following without being noticed.

He gave the pair another look. For a while now they had been content to follow behind but now it seemed that they were closing the gap. Odd. If they wanted to take them then surly a place more out of the way would be appropriate?

The two men kept moving towards them from across the street, Assassin watching them curiously as they came now to the same buss stop that they had only just left.

The two men stopped together, one standing slightly behind the other much like Assassin himself was positioned.

His mistress had finally noticed them now, marking the two men as the foremost one threw all pretense at stealth to the wind and started shooting death glares across the street at her. They were tall, with pale European complexions and light blond hair that marked them as foreigners. Both were wearing cloak's that passed as civilian clothing, but still provided room for concealed items.

His Mistress caught them and tensed. "What in the world?" He heard her mumble.

_I see you have noticed them now. _

She shivered as she got his message. "Who are they? And what are they doing?"

_I do not know who. They are related to the Grail Crusade._

"Are they some of the others?" She asked, whispering over her shoulder at him. She tensed again suddenly. An action that she had been doing so commonly in the past few hours that he almost didn't notice it. "Do they want to fight us like in the War?" She whispered frantically.

_It seems that they may want to fight, though not for the reasons you are thinking. _

"What?"

_Stand up._

She did so shakily.

_Now let us move on to someplace more secluded. It would not do to meet them here._

"What! You want me to meet them? I-I don't think that's a good idea!" She said, her voice filling with fear as she looked at the two of them, the leader still making threatening faces.

_Be still Suzuka. Breath in and out. Now! _

She obeyed him, stopping her figiting and taking several deep breaths.

_Now walk, let us return to the Church. Whatever they want we will deal with there._

Suzuka turned and started walking. Her Servant still behind her she started making her long way back in the direction she had come from while the two men followed behind her. If she had thought that Assassins presence was nerve wracking then this was ten times worse. She had no idea where they had come from, it seemed that like she had just been siting there and when she had looked up the two men were across the street from her, one of them looking at her like she was some sort of personal offense to his family.

She just knew that he was still giving her that look from behind her back as she walked along. Why did something like this have to happen?

The walk took her a while, and the sunlight was just beginning to grow dimmer when she finally made it back to the church feeling like a bag of nerves. Despite Assassins presence she couldn't help but feel that she was alone and that she was about to be attacked. In fact it felt a lot like the night two days ago.

The queasy feeling in her stomach that had been growing all the way back to the Church reached a peek just as they began to make their way up the slight slope to the church entrance. Unlike the city sidewalk the pavement leading to the white Churches entrance was hemmed in with trees on all sides blocking the approach off from the eyes and ears of those in the street. She was completely alone. Just her now and the two men drawing nearer behind her as she walked up towards the Church. Despite Assassin assuring her several times thought the walk back that no harm wound befall her she begun to walk faster. They picked up their pace in response and she felt a spike of panic. "You!" One of them shouted at her. "Girl! Stop where you are you miserable thief!" Her gut clenched at the voices harshness but then-

"Hey You!" A familiar voice rang out. Suzukas heart gave a little leap as Arisa Bannnings ran down towards her from the church, a mean spark in her eye and an aggressive bounce present in her step like no other. Suzuka's mind raced. How had she gotten here so fast?

_Is that your friend?_ Assassin came, sounding strangely put out.

"Y-yes," Suzuka said, relief coloring her voice at the sight of her friend.

"What do you think you two are doing!" Arisa said still storming down towards them. The duo saw her coming and seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Sneaking up on my friend like this? Kidnapping her out of her own hotel room just so you can have her help you with whatever Lost Logia you think is going to- OH!" About a yard away Arisa cut off with a shriek, her face suddenly twisting into astonishment. Behind her Suzuka heard the footsteps of her two pursuers stop completely for the first time. She stopped also and turning around slowly, her eye caught the sight of a long ponytail. Behind her Assassin had materialized, his impossibly long sword held loosely in front of him, its blade nearly touching the ground as he held it out with one hand.

"Who the *&%# are _you_!" Arisa choked out, gaping at Assassin.

The Samurai gave her no mind, keeping his eyes directed towards the two men who were regarding him with hawk like looks, the leader looking him up and down like he was assessing some sort of expensive commodity that may perhaps have been damaged by a careless mover.

"Is that a _sword_!" Arisa gasped waving her finger at the longblade Assassin was holding.

"Mistress please instruct your friend to be silent." Assassin said sternly.

"What did you say to me?" Arissa asked, her voice rising in indignation. Suzuka recognised that voice. Arissa was about to lose her temper and possibly get violent as well, all in the name of looking out for her. And that couldn't go well, not with Assassin and two Mistery enemy's, probably both Mages about to do something.

"A-Arisa please be quite." She peeped, trying to add some urgency to her voice. Arisa looked at her like she was nuts.

"Be quite? Suzuka these people _kidna_-"

"I know! I know, look its not what it seems, just stop." She said quickly, cutting Arisa off. Her friend gave her a weird look but fell silent at last. It was one of the only times she could ever remember interrupting Arissa.

From the looks on their faces the two men didn't seem to know what to make of Arisas intrusion but whatever they thought, they brushed it aside.

"So!" The foremost one, a man with soft features, shorter hair and a strange looking scar on his face barked out. "You're the whelp who interrupted my Summoning! You'll pay for that, pay for it dearly you dirty Japanese witch!"

Suzuka flushed at the insult and she heard Arisa making a choking noise.

"I see." Assassin said lightly. "You are the Magus who originally summoned me."

"None other!" The man declared. "I am Lebrecht Illyasveil von Einzbern, rightful participant of the Einzbern Founding Family."

Next to her Arisa gave a little "Uwha?"

"And you are the Servant that was granted to me by the Grail in order to complete this glorious mission!"

"I see. Your little display across the street was for my benefit then. So. What is it you want of me son of Einzbern?"

Lebrecht seemed put off for a second but then declared with more pomp than ever: "I have come to claim you, to rid you of your bondage to a second rate Master and complete our contract together."

"I see." Assassin said evenly, his voice like a still pool. "I thought as much. However, as you can see, I already have a Master."

Lebrecht blinked and at his side the other man shifted slightly.

"Yes its true that that imposter may be connected to you now, however hollowly." He said recovering quickly. "But that is nothing. Whatever real prana you are receiving your getting from me! I am the one supplying you with your power, I am the one who called you up, all I need is the command seals and our pact will be complete in every aspect. Give her to me, taking her command signs will only take a moment and then we can be reunited as Master and Servant." He said pointing at Suzuka.

Arisa, who must have had absolutely no idea what was going on caught his tone and took a few steps forward with a worried look, placing herself in between her friend and the man who was demanding her.

"No." Assassin said without any further embellishment.

"W-what?" Leberecht stuttered sounding honestly surprised at the simple refusal.

"You offer is fascinating but I will decline it. Your standing makes little difference to me. Besides you will not be able to ado what you say, the Grail has not chosen you as a Master therefore you cannot use the Command seals that my Mistress possesses."

"You hear that?" Arisa drawled angrily. "He said no to whatever it is you're talking about! You cant have my friend you creepy German perv!"

Leberecht just stood there silently for moment glaring at Assassin looking angry enough to kill. "Cant use her Command seals?" He muttered in a breathless voice that only just carried far enough to hear.

"Cant use **my** Command seals!" He shouted, furry entering his voice. Suzuka and Arissa gasped in unison. Before them the man was changing, his pale blond hair was going paler, becoming pure white while all the blood seemed to drain out of his skin leaving it the same hue. Most alarmingly though his eyes, up till now an unremarkable gray suddenly blazed bright ruby red.

"Those seals are **mine** by right!" He screeched turning towards Suzuka who shrank back. "They are not yours save by unhappy chance and trickery!"

"I-I didn't, I dont..." Suzuka stuttered half formed denials as the white haired, red eyed thing glared at her.

"It doesn't matter." He hissed. "I don't need to talk. All I need is your arm!"

Lebrechts companion, also now sporting the same skin, hair and eye color moved, drawing what looked like a long blade of his own from somewhere within the folds of his clothing and leaping forward with terrible speed.

Arisa gasped, and Suzuka found herself letting out a scream as the white haired man streaked towards her sword extended to cut her down.

It happened very quickly. As the white haired man flew towards her there were two swishes and a gleam of silver and the next moment the white swordsman's head was falling from his body.

This time Arisa screamed as well as the headless corpse fell of to the side so that the blood sprayed away from them all. The head rolled away into the bushes and out of sight leaving a bloody trail on the ground.

"I-Iffeal!" Lebrecth shouted staring down at his bodyguards remains in shock. Arisa was screaming at the top of her lungs while Suzuka just looked down at the body in speechless horror felling like she was going to puke. The next instant there was a rustle of movement and Arisas screaming stopped abruptly.

Suzuka blinked. Assassin was standing over her blond haired friend with one of his hands dinging into a place near the side of her neck. Arisa gasped silently a few times and then appeared to black out slumping to the ground and laying there twitching slightly.

"Iffeal!" Leberecht shouted again trembling slightly where he stood. His eyes were wide and his breath was coming in short gasps as he continued to look down at his old servant.

"As I said before, I must decline your offer son of Einzbern." Assassin said softly. Holding his sword out before him he inspected the blood running down into the groove and then, with a light flick banished it, panting a thin red line on the ground.

"I-I cant believe it." Suzuka gasped, feeling like her world was turning upsidown. "You- you killed him. You really killed him!" She felt herself starting to hyperventilate. She had never liked violence, even in movies killing always bothered her and now, now there was a headless man laying at her feet.

The world began to spin.

*Scene *

In the dark interior of the Church Assassin sat, crossleged on the floor looking down at his Mistress before him. The girl had fainted again, and he had been forced to carry her along with her foreign companion who he had knocked out back to the Church. It was a strange day. Personally he was never a smoker but he almost found himself wishing for a pipe. If its influence was as calming and as helpful to deep contemplation as some insisted then perhaps he would enjoy it right now.

As of now he seemed to have three charges instead of the one that a Servant was meant to manage. His Mistress, who he had lain out on a sleeping pad and covered with a light blanket, who was most probably incapable of managing herself.

His Mistresses friend who she had so foolishly told her location to who was laid out in another room. She had woken only shortly afterwords and had demanded to be released along with his Mistress quite shrilly. When he had refused he had been forced to lock her into one of the rooms. She was still trying to escape as far as he could hear.

Of her he knew almost nothing yet could infer almost everything from how she had reacted to the sight earlier. She was useless as well, though perhaps not quite so timid from the sound of things. He would have to keep an eye on her, and most probably explain their whole situation from scratch again. There was little chance of being able to leave her behind now, not after what she had seen. For now she would have to be dealt with, though perhaps his Mistress could help with that.

The last was the most complicated. The Magus Lebrecht was also here, having no other real place to go at the moment with his bodyguard dead. It was a strange contradiction but that man would give him both the least and the most trouble out of all the people here. For one he was the one supplying him with prana, and thus just like his Master his health would have to be monitored at all cost. At the same time however the man undoubtedly still wanted to kill his currant Master so that he could gain her command seals and thus would have to be guarded against continually at the same time. Even further if he was not mistaken the homunculus probably now harbored resentment towards him personally for killing his bodyguard. After the killing the man had insisted several times that his servants death made no emotional difference to him. Leberecht was now out in the Churches overrun garden burying his servant who he cared so little about's, remains by hand and occasionally weeping over his body when he thought Assassin couldn't hear him.

And furthermore they had yet to make a single move towards finding out where the other Servants had gone.

_I foresee serious complications ahead._ He thought to himself.

Siting still as a statue on the floor Assassin closed his eyes. His Mistress was before him. First before anything he had to await his her wakefulness. Then they would see what the Einzbern knew, not only him and his Mistress but also the young Magus Edenfelt and her Servant as well. Perhaps they they could uncover this riddle. And then he could find the other Servants. _Yes the other Servants_. He thought. Especially the Saber Servant, and who under Earth or Sea could say? With the way things were perhaps the Sabers of both the previous wars would be present. That along with the Beserker who he now accompanied would be perfect.

The other. Beserker. Lancelot. There was a Swordsman. If only he could just fight him again, test his technique one more time... but he had lost, and he had agreed to aid him and his Mistress for now. To go back on his word would be unseemly in the extreme. In any case there would be time, but still, to be so close to a fellow swordsman so great was tempting. It took much of his discipline not to challenge him once again. See how he fared this time...

The thought made the sides of his mouth twitch.

"uuuuu..."

Assassin opened his eyes. His Mistress was groaning softly. With sudden violent movement she sat bolt upright with a yelp, her eyes flying open into huge panicked orbs. She laid her hand on her breast and begun to look around the room wildly.

"Good evening Mistress." He said.

"Ah- Assassin." She made out. "W-wh..."

"You are in the church again if you want to know. No great length of time has passed you. It is night, the same day as when you fainted."

"Where is everybody?" She asked her voice loosing its panic but none of its fear.

"Your friend is awake by now. I confined her to one of the other rooms. As for our hosts they are gone on a private errand. The Einzbern is in the garden, paying his honors to the dead."

"The _dead?_" The violet haired girl squeaked, her voice going so high it sounded like a mouse.

Assassin sat there impassively as his Mistress began to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks and onto the blanket he had given to her.

*Scene *

"So." Arisa ground out looking around the small circle at each face in turn. "You are all Mages from Earth in the first place except for you and you." She said pointing to Assassin and Lancelot. "Who are the mystical spirits of past Hero's returned from the dead, and you are all looking for this artifact called the Holy Grail, that is not the Holy Grail, that can grant wishes, that has been stolen, and is being looked for by a bunch of other people like you who you don't know where they are but have to find them so that you can do the same and at the same time you want my friend Suzuka to act as some sort of mystical anchor for you so that you can stay in this world and do all this while she just has to tag along and leave her whole family behind while you kill people with swords and look for this magical not-Lost Logia artifact that can grant wishes."

"For the last time _yes_!" Krisikka shouted in exasperation glaring at the blond haired lady who was glaring at everybody.

"And you!" Arisa went on waving her finger at Lancelot. "Why are you wearing something like that?"

"We told you already he wears it for protection!" Krisikka shouted once more.

"And that's another thing!' Arisa went on turning towards Leberecht. "What exactly is it with you anyway? Nobody's _that_ white!"

Leberecht said nothing only sitting silently in the corner as always regarding his questioner with a contemptuous look. Ever since their meeting out in front of the Church the day before he had hardly breathed a word to any of them, and had so far barely said anything at all, exchanging only a few words with Krisikka, the only person whose presence he did not seem to disdain, and once with Lancelot.

"I think that's a Homunculus thing actually." Krisikka said her usual shouted response turning thoughtful.

"Young woman I insist that you sit down once more." Lancelot said with a raised voice of his own. Arisa tried to shoot him a look as well, but faltered slightly when she met the black eye slit of his visor. With a 'harumph' noise she turned on her heel and sat back down in the pew crossing her legs across each other and folding her arms over her chest.

It was the day after Suzukas fateful trip to the phone booth, and like the day before it had not been smooth. For a while it had seemed that Suzuka was in shock over the violence of the day before a, recovering slowly and only really returning to full awareness when Arisa had finally managed to break down the door to the study that she had been locked inside, throw a vase at Assassins head and then attempt to hoist Suzuka over her shoulder and jump out the window with her to freedom.

Assassin had put the kabosh on that plan and what had followed was one of the strangest exchanges that Suzuka had ever witnessed, Assassin explaining what was going on in his calm, composed manner while she baked him up as much as she could (or was willing to). Arisa took it just like Suzuka had thought she would. With obvious skepticism, a barrage of snide comments, several accusations of murder and many shrill demands sprinkled through all of it that they both be released immediately.

It took a while but eventually they convinced Arisa that Suzuka could not leave with her at once, regardless what either of them wished. Suzuka was worried the whole time through. As far as she had seen him Assassin was always composed and calm, taking whatever came along with seemingly perfect grace, but now under Arisas relentless tirade even Assassins patience seemed to grow thin and a hard note began to work its way into his voice, becoming more and more pronounced as the conversation went on. Whatever Assassin had prepared himself for when he came to earth it had not been dealing with an irate Arisa Bannings, semi spoiled daughter of millionaires from America. By the time the conversation was finally over his disapproval of the blond college student was nearly tangible.

After that Assassin had willingly left upon Suzukas request, dematerializing and leaving for the Garden to speak with his other 'Master', Leberecht. (a conversation Assassin found much more to his taste even though it was cautious first contact with the man.)

Suzuka and Arisa then had a little talk of their own, one that had become almost heated again despite their comfort in being reunited. Arisa wanted to leave. Sneak out, head for the police station and then contact the TSAB as soon as possible. It took a lot for Suzuka to convince her that escape was just not possible at the moment. Whatever she said, Arissa was firmly convinced of the insanity of Assassin and the others, a conclusion that Suzuka had not yet ruled out herself.

They had spent the rest of the day exploring the various parts of the Church building and relating each others story's in detail. Suzukas disappearance it seemed was bigger news than she had expected. Upon receiving her phone call about the fight the police had arrived on scene to find the lot completely empty. After a short investigation it was realized that Suzuka was missing completely from her hotel room, that she had reported a break in only half an hour or so before she made the call and that all her belongings were left behind. Her name was in the news the following day her family was in an uproar over the whole deal. Police had been searching for her and nearly her whole family was in Fuyuki city right now waiting for the police report. When she had finally called Arisa had been in the process of trying to search for her herself.

While her family had been relived at least a little when Arisa told them her version of what was going on they were still determined to find her.

It was getting near evening once again when Krisikka and Beserker had returned at last, the armored man hauling with him what looked to be a crate bigger than he was. How he had transported it without drawing attention Suzuka couldn't begin to guess, but she and Arissa had watched wide eyed as he barely managed to fit it thought the churches tall double doors and then deposited it with a thump on the sanctuary floor.

The meeting between Arisa, Krisikka and Servant was not a smooth one. In the end they had wound up going over the exact same ground that they had covered the day before but with a much more vocal participant in Arisa who, unlike Suzuka never hesitated to say anything or point out what she thought was out of place.

By the end of it all Krisikka and Arisa were rather red in the face.

"So, now that she knows all this I don't suppose that there is any chance of dumping her is there?" Krisikka asked looking up at Lancelot.

"Ha! As if I would leave Suzuka stranded here with all you loony's!" Arissa said crossly.

"I do not suppose that that you could put her into a bewitched sleep?" Lancelot replied not sounding entirely thrilled at the prospect of bringing her along either.

Krisikka shook her head looking regretful. "This is all your fault." She said turning to Suzuka. "You just had to go and tell somebody where we were and now we have to take _that _along."

"What does "_that" suppose_ to mean you little brat?" Arissa hissed.

"I could put her to sleep." Came a voice from the corner. Everybody turned in surprise to Leberecht. The Einzbern Magus was looking at Arisa like she was some sort of tumor that needed to be removed. It was the first thing he had said to the group at large.

"Really?" Krisikka asked, fascinated. "Yey!"

"No, no one is putting my friend to sleep!" Suzuka burst out, feeling a little swell of panic. No way she was letting that man anywhere near Arisa. Besides now that she was reunited with her the thought of going with these people without her best friend was terrifying. "Arisa is coming, even if I have to use a one of these marks." She said holding out her hand with the command seals.

Leberecht let out a contemptuous chuckle and then tried to catch Assassins eye only to find them closed. "I see, so that's how you would use my Servant. To ferry around useless noisy riffraff."

"What did you call me!"

"A-Arisa, please.." Suzuka mumbled.

"Maybe if someone else had those command seals you wouldn't have to worry about your Master spending them so pointlessly." Leberecht said.

"Don't be stupid!" Krisikka broke in with raised voice. "Assassin is right, if you weren't given Command seals in the first place then you cant take them from somebody else."

Leberechts eyes narrowed at her. "I did receive Command seals! _She_ just stole them from me!"

"Umm, I- I didn't mean to.." Suzuka squeaked, her voice barely heard over the others.

"That's impossible, because Suzuka's not even a Magus. The only thing that happened was that the Grail must have thought you were unworthy!" The Finnish girl jeered.

"**Enough!**" Lancelot shouted. Everyone went quiet. For a moment the room seemed to darken, what looked like tendrils of black mist suddenly forming along the ground, oozing out from around the Knights feet and back. The next it was gone, dissolving without a trace as quickly as it had come.

"Mistress. You will not antagonize the young lord. Especially so soon after the death of his friend this is shameful." Lancelot said.

Leberecht looked like he was about to protest at the use of the word friend but stopped as the Knight looked at him.

"Master Einzbern, whatever claim you had to Kojiro is now gone. It has been overridden by the will of God. Regardless of what you contribute to Kojiro it is this maiden who has been chosen to bear his Command seals, for good or for ill. I have already extended my protection towards her, and so you must wait patently upon providence."

Leberecht's face twisted into an ugly sneer.

"And as for you." Lancelot said, turning to Arisa. "You are the companion of Assassins Mistress, as such your life also lies under my protection. However, you are not here with my good will. Were I to have my way your memory would be wiped, or your lips sealed through some sorcerous art, and you would be sent back to your home."

"The quest we are about to undertake is one of danger. It is not a place for one such as you, a loud, ill mannered lady who cannot hold her tongue."  
Arisa went red in the face again but didn't seem to have the nerve to say anything back.

"Stay close to your friend, protect her in what little way may be within your ability but do not interfere with us. Assassin will look to the interest of his Mistress protection, and to the protection of von Einzbern while I must look to the defense of my own Mistress. It is you who are the most vulnerable, for we Servants must look after there masters before the can pay mind to other allies. Know your place, and stay close."

With that Lancelot fell silent leaving the room with a sense of stillness. Leberecht was back to siting back passively with a sullen look while Krissika was looking down at the floor and Arisa was glancing nervously between Lancelot and her friend.

"What is it that you have all been doing so far anyway?" Lebrecht asked, changing the subject.

"Well..." Krisikka said. "For the past few days we've been trying to get a hold of the Mages Association. Apart from that." She said looking over at the big crate that was now siting in the corner of the sanctuary. "We have been gathering supply's that I thought Beserker could use."

Lebrecht gave a slow nod. "I see. And you have been using this as your base this whole time?"

Krissika nodded.

"Its not a bad choice." He went on. "It was no accident that we were told to meet here. During the last war this was the dwelling place of the wars administrator. In any case, I have a better place nearby."

"A better place?" Krissika asked perking up.

"I have been around these grounds a few times now." Lebrecht said. "Its not bad as a base goes. Spacious enough, and with a few hidden chambers that could be useful, but any Magic that may have been here is long gone. Except in the lower basement that is." He said making a face. "If you follow me, I could show you a place. A real base of operations, a fortress worthy of two Servants. And one with proper bedrooms as well." He said sniffing at the pews.

Despite herself Suzuka felt her curiosity rising. She didn't know what was going on with this Church but it obviously hadn't been used in some time. While it must have been very nice at one point now it was dusty and rather lacking in furniture.

"Where is this place?" Krisikka asked, apparently sharing that sediment.

*Scene *

"Wow." Arisa said staring ahead in between the trees. "This is creepy."

The six of them stood together peering into the dark mass of trees that now surrounded them. It was to the outskirts of Fuyuki city that the white haired man had taken them, a long trip even by car with Arisa driving Suzuka and company while outside Lancelot carried Krisikka and ran. It was with some awe that Arisa realized the hulking, ground bound Knight had beaten her there by a lot even after stopping several times on the way.

They had arrived after a while, at the edge of town. A quiet little place where the pavement ended and turned to trees, tall, leafy, fragrant and very green with the current spring season. It was the beginnings of what looked to be the forrest that bordered this whole side of the city, stretching on up as far as one could see into the mountains beyond. Leberecht had led them straight in. What they had found when they went in further was more trees. While at first the forrest was soft and colorful after about twenty minutes of walking this began to slowly change, the woods getting denser and darker the further they went. The hike was not a short one, with the three girls picking along between the trunks at a slow pace, Assassin bringing up the back and Lancelot at the front nearest to his Mistress and Leberecht – who was leading - as possible.

As they went it became increasingly difficult to go in a straight line, the trees becoming tangled in places more and more frequently. Often they had to make detours and stop and wait for Krisikka or Arisa to rest, neither of whom seemed to be very accustomed to hiking.

Light began to become scarce, filtering in only occasionally through small breaks in the trees above.

"You cant see far in here." Suzuka said as they walked, squinting to try and peer through the gloom.

"Your not suppose to." Leberecht said, responding to her for the first time. "The builders of the Einzbern Castle allowed this forest to grow up around it. This along with several bounded fields keeps visitors away."

"How is it he knows where he's going?" Arisa muttered grumpily plodding along behind her.

They walked on for a long time when suddenly Lancelot stopped and held out his hand. Everybody paused. Lancelot was standing perfectly still and seemed to be listening for something, though he did not say anything.

"Beserker? What is it?" Krisikka asked.

"I am not sure." He said, still looking of to the side. A few leaves drifted down above. "I thought I felt something."

He stood their for a little longer but when Krisikka asked if they could keep going he nodded and they all started off again.

"There _are_ spirits in this wood." Leberecht said as he moved. "They normally don't come out during the day but this deep in one might."

"Wait what?" Arisa squawked from behind.

"I see." Lancelot said sounding thoughtful.

"In any case a one of them is no threat to a Servant, and it wont be able to follow us once we pass the bounded field."

On they walked, working their way through the dark. It was a long and uncomfortable journey, and as time went on Suzuka began to feel that they would never come to whatever dratted place it was that the homunculus thing was leading them, and that it was all a trap to make them get lost and fall into a ditch or something.

This line of thought was growing on her when quite suddenly everything changed.

One moment Suzuka was walking along picking her way around the ashen trees and the next she had suddenly stepped out of the woods and into a clearing.

And what a clearing it was. In the space of a foot the dark leafy floor of the forest gave way to lush green grass. The sky opened up before them and they saw that night had fallen, the stars startling vivid after the long dark under the trees.

But all this was nothing to the huge building that loomed before them. It was indeed a Castle, or more like a cross between a Castle and a mansion. Built in the western style its square battlements stuck out against the skyline, ivy creeping over the walls while light poured from the arced windows and shone on their faces making them blink.

Kriskka let out a squeal of delight and clapped her hands together while Suzuka and Arisa gaped. Even Assassin gave the building a curious look. Lancelot and Leberecht however took it into stride, the Homunculus barely sparing it a second glance while the Knight gave only a small compliment and then looked back into the woods behind them.

Leberecht lead the way, striding up to the Castle entrance, past a large fountain and up to a pair of enormous wooden double doors that dwarfed the entrance of the Church. Laying his hand on the wood he opened one and ushered them inside with a dull gesture.

They found themselves in a great hall. Black and white checkered marble floors and great banisters with red carpet and intricate golden railings led to various floors of the house while a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling bathing the whole room in light.

This time everyone except Leberecht stopped and looked around with wide eyes marveling at the shear explosion of opulence the place seemed to hold. Suzuka felt like she was in a dream. During the day and if it was near a road such a place would be fantastic, a tourist attraction that would draw thousands but now at night after the long gloomy hike through the colorless forest it seemed to Suzuka that she had fallen out of reality and into some sort of wild tale.

"Welcome to the Eizbern Castle." Leberecht said in a flat voice. "During the Grail war this serves as our base of operations, you can settle in the guest bedrooms if you want."

"Ahhhhhhh." Krisikka was spinning around slowly in circles, her eyes sparkling in the light of the chandelier. "Mom said that our family used to have a place like this!" She chimed. "We have one now to but its much smaller, and it doesn't have a chandelier or anything."

"Marvelous." Lancelot said looking around, his voice tinged with open admiration. "I did not imagine that it would be so magnificent as this on the inside."

Leberecht gave an absent nod and began walking away towards the largest of the banisters. It was only with great presence of mind that any of them remembered to follow, entranced as they were with the scene around them.

If the front entrance hall was extravagant then rest of the mansion stuck to much the same flavor, with fine carpet, bright hallways and walls inlaid cleverly with spidery stonework like climbing ivy.

Neither Suzuka or Arisa spoke hardly a word the entire time beyond a stuttered reply, so taken were they with the dimensions and grandeur of the place. Krisikka meanwhile flounced around the halls, zooming from one sight to the next.

"This place has not been occupied in some time." Assassin said softly making Suzuka remember his presence. Among the members of the party he was the only one aside from Lebrecht who had offered no real comment. So like a ghost was he that she had forgotten he was standing behind her.

"W-what makes you think that?" She asked, wondering at how deadpan his face was at the sight around him.

He gestured over to one of picture frames and upon closer inspection she discovered that it was indeed covered in a substantial layer of dust. _Odd_, she thought. "But what do you think of it?" She asked trying to gauge his true opinion.

"It is fine in its own way." He said. "But it lacks elegance, restraint is the better half of art. Though-" He added, a touch of admiration working its way into his voice. "It must have taken great skill with a hammer to produce the gold leaves on some of those railings."

"Who would ever build something like this here?" Arisa said looking up at another smaller chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"My ancestors built this place." Leberecht answered. "It was not constructed here, they transplanted it from my homeland so they could have a base of operations during the Heavens Feel. It was transported here stone by stone, rebuilt and installed with bounded fields. Later they added a great deal onto it."

"It must have cost a fortune and a half to move all this." Arisa murmured. "And you said that the forest grew up around it? How long has this been here exactly?"

"Several hundred years by now."

Arisa's mouth fell open again. "Sevra - and **nobody** ever found out about this in all that **time**?"

"The Forest stops most, and like I said, the Castle is protected by a bounded field-"

"A bounded field? You mean like a barrier?"

"...Yes, to put it into layman terms. A barrier." He said like he was talking to a moron. "However you are not _completely_ wrong. Sometimes people do slip in. The country around here is alive with rumors of a phantom Castle and has been since time out of mind."

Their trip down the hall lead them past several main rooms and a full hallway full of doors before they stopped in a room that contained several couches and bookshelves and had two hallways branching out from it.

"This is the guest room." Leberecht said. "Guest bedrooms are down the hallways you can pick whichever you like. Mis Edelfelt, your room is a little further down, its the primary guest bedroom, make yourself comfortable."

Krisikka just beamed at him while Arisa's eyebrow twitched.

"Why does she get the primary guest bedroom? She's just a little girl." She demanded.

"That's because I'm a Magus, and an Edelfelt on top of that." She chimed still beaming. Between the discovery of the Castle and this news she must have been beaming continually for the past fifteen minutes, Suzuka thought to herself.

"Also because I'm Lancelot's Master, and Lancelot could kick your _ass_."

Arisa eyed the hulking armored figure - who again seemed to be distracted by something- with a distasteful expression.

"You wouldn't do anything to me little girl." Arisa growled. "Aren't you a little young to be using words like 'ass'?" She taunted

"Lancelot kick her ass!" Krisikka cried dramatically, pointing one finger at Arisa.

The knight didn't move and only continued looking away from them down the hallway hey had just come from.

"Beserker?"

"Don't be silly Mistress."

In stark contrast to the luxury that surrounded them there was very little in the way of food. In the years that had passed since the castle had been occupied there had naturally been no one to restock the pantry and no Einzber style guest feast was forthcoming (Leberecht indeed did not even eat with them at all, disappearing to some other corner of the Castle at the first opportunity).

Dinner that night consisted of the little food that they had brought in their day packs, a small meal that felt very out of place eaten in the palace like environment they had found themselves in. On top of this as Assassin had pointed out no one had been cleaning anything in a very long time and the girls found that nearly all surfaces including the couches and beds had a layer of dust. Fortunately they were able to locate clean sheets and pillows in one of the linen closets.

The night was capped of by the discovery of a bathroom the size of a garage with a golden bathtub (Plated as they correctly suspected) and silver knobs for the running water as well as a whole cupboard devoted to exotic bath salts. It took a few unpleasant surprises and then a little experimenting to realize that they needed to re-activate the water heater.

So it was that about an hour and a half after arriving all three of them were refreshed and feeling very sleepy.

_What a funny day_. Suzuka contemplated as she followed Arisa back to the bedroom they had chosen. _Spend the first half of the day arguing with my best friend and then hours upon hours crawling through a lightness forest only to find a place like this and take a bath in a golden tub. _

She crawled into bed and pulled the covers over herself while Arisa did the same in the bed across the room. If only she had had a little more to eat then she might be able to fall asleep immediately she thought. Instead that little twang in her stomach would probably keep her up for another half an hour, not to mention the thought that Assassin was almost certainly in the room invisible right now watching both of them.

She closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep almost instantly anyway.

Suzukas dreams that night were dominate by a blue haired Samuri, practicing sword forms again and again and again. But Suzuka never took the time to remember that nights dreams, for she awoke suddenly when something yanked her out of bed by the hair and before she could even open her eyes or scream there was a dagger pressed against her throat.

*Scene *

Sir Lancelot du Lak suspected that something was following them. It had started back in the forest when the Masters and the maiden who was tagging along were still struggling through the woods. He had felt then something very briefly just on the edge of his senses. It was a droplet, a thimbleful of presence so small that it had only barely alerted his keen instincts, and even then was so slight that his brain warred against his half formed suspicions. It was a spirit, one of the ones that the ambitious young Einzbern had mentioned. It made perfect sense. In the end he _had_ dismissed it as nothing more than what it seemed to be and turned his mind to other things.

Even when he had felt the same again inside the Castle it was far away enough for him to count it as the same thing.

It had bothered him though and that was enough to subtly change the flavor of his alertness from passive to active. He had even neglected to chastise his young Mistress for her use of base language.

So it was that he had not passed dinner with as much peace of mind as he would usually hope for and he had found himself a little more withdrawn than usual, something his Mistress would have noticed as well had she not been enjoying herself so much with the older girls.

Normally it would be priority that a Master stay alert to their Servants slightest cues, but inside Lancelot was not concerned over this. To his judgment his Mistress could use the company of some figures who were not Magi, even if she spent a great deal of her time with them lording it over them both they should be a good influence in the long run. That was for another time though.

It was after dinner that his suspicions begun to form more clearly. Leberecht had pulled both him and Assassin aside while the girls were bathing and informed them that something had disturbed the Castles bounded field. It was a clear warning sign as the nature of the wards prevented whatever spirits there were that occupied the forest from approaching the Castle close enough to disturb the wards anyway. After a small conference Assassin had Astralized and gone to keep an eye upon the Masters while Lancelot had set out himself along with Leberecht to check the Castle grounds. They had looked up and down together, Lancelot using his supernatural senses and Leberecht using his mastery of the bounded field that surrounded the Castle to patrol for Servants, or more likely Magi who might have followed them in.

They found nothing, and in the end Laberecht had retreated back to his private chamber while Lancelot stayed, stalking around the grounds looking for anything unusual. Servants did not need to sleep after all, and besides all danger it was in fact simply a pleasant night. A pleasant night with a Castle such as no longer truly existed in this time period all to himself. He derived a pleasant feeling of nostalgia when he had gone to the roof and inspected the battlements. Truth be told they were not the best fortifications, the Castle having been altered to serve as a mansion as well, but he enjoyed walking along them none the less. To have been granted such a marvelous base of operations was incredible he reflected. Pity that the battle did not lie here.

His reflection had ended when he had felt it again, that slight sense, like the sound of a whisper being spoken across the room. The feeling of presense just on the edge of his perception, like a voice from miles away. Then he had looked sideways quickly and discovered with a jolt that what he was sensing was _not_ miles away. It was a few yards away watching him from one of the shadows. A white mask that resembled a skull.

It must have realized that he had detected it for the next moment the thing had attempted a retreat, leaping out of the shadows and running of across the roof bent low like a beast. In a flash he recognized it. Black cloak, white skull mask. One word flashed though his mind, a title that all Servant fear to some degree- Assassin.

He understood in an instant and cursed himself for his folly. Of course, even if one Assassin was accounted for there was still the Assassin from the war before. And this one was not like the Samuri to whome he had entrusted his Master safety. This one wore the black garb.

Quick as a arrow from the string Lancelot dashed after it. The dark cloaked figure was quick but be came on with the speed of a rushing wind gaining on it in an instant.

It jumped of the roof and began to Astralize to evade him but he tore a chunk of stone clean out of the battlements and hurled it down with pinpoint precision right through the space that the Assassin had just disappeared from.

There was a weird noise like a small explosion in reverse as the Assassin reformed before his eyes, the prana imbued in the stone by his Noble Phantasm 'Knight of Honor' forcing the Servant back into corporeality.

The Servant hissed a very strained sounding curse in some language he didn't catch and then fell to the ground, landing on his feet and shooting of towards the treeline as soon as he touched the ground.

Lancelot paused for a moment, trying to discern weather or not there were any other Servants invading the grounds at the moment and then lept of the battlements after it.

Despite his greater speed the small pause had let the Assassin put a lot of distance between him and it and it was distance now through dense trees as it had speed of into the woods.

He would have lost it immediately had he not been so fast, and also have glimpsed its dark form disappearing around a tree trunk almost as soon as he landed.

It was s furious chase, with Lancelot having the advantage of both speed and agility yet the Assassin keeping him at bay for a while with his lead and the way his outfit made him nearly invisible under the near perfect darkness of the trees.

But try as it might the Assassin could not shake him, and he begun to gain on it steadily till at last he ran it down and grappled it from behind, bearing it to the ground in a tackle that smashed a tree to pieces upon their impact.

Lancelot hauled it up by the waist while it cursed and twisted in his arms trying to strike him in the groin.

"Well? What is it you were doing?" He intoned tightening his grip he now had on the mans arms till he hear the bones creak. The man was a Servant and strong, but its strength was nothing to his. "You dare sneak into my Masters presence dog?"

It dident reply but wraped its hands around his and started to pry at his fingers trying to dislodged and break his pinky. He hoisted it over his head and then smashed it into the ground so hard it left a deep crater.

"Speak! Why did you approach us without declaring yourself? Where is your Master? Answer me or I'll tear you apart!"

The Assassin Servant stopped struggling and went limp in his hands. "If you kill me then your Master will die." It said solemnly.

Lancelot narrowed his eyes behind his helm and felt his body flood with anger at the claim. "Your threats have no merit. My Master is already protected by another."

"Test my words then, Knight." It chuckled. "I promise you that the fingers of the Assassins are already at your Masters throat."

For the first time Lancer felt real fear enter him. He had not even realized that Assassin was present except because of a slight feeling and a fluke. Who knew what Assassin had done right under his nose? Wild story's of the murder of royalty began to race through his mind. Devilish contraptions that could be set in place and then activated remotely to kill their victim, either by poison or fire or some other wicked device, foul sorcery's and snakes...

Shifting his grip he held the Assassins wrists in one hand and then took off, running back through the woods towards the Castle with his strange prisoner in tow flapping behind him like some sort of weird black standard.

Breaking through the tree line once again his ears were greeted by the sounds of steel clashing. Not bothering with an entrance he crashed through the window, his prisoner still with him. The Assassin was not struggling against him at all he noted in the back of his mind. The thought filled him with dread. _He doesn't struggle because he knows he's won._

Running down the corridors so fast he blurred he burst into the guest room. What he found there was not what he had expected. Rather than another Servant working in tandem or a group of Magi allies what could only be four other Assassin Servants were standing in the room, two of them warily circling a ready Kojiro who's long blade was out and held at the ready while the other two held in their hands both Suzuka and Krisikka, knife blades poised over their necks.

Kojiro was studying them intently, but even now his face betrayed no fear or anger, only his small nearly imperceptible frown betrayed any emotion.

"F-Five Assassins!" Lancelot said, his voice stunned with disbelief. "Impossible!"

The two Assassins nearest to him seemed to hesitate a moment his arrival but the ones holding Krisikka and Suzuka merely tightened their grip and shoved their prisoners forward slightly, emphasizing the knives they held in their black hands, long curved serrated things that gleamed in the light that came though the window.

"Move back." One of the Assassin commanded. Reluctantly Lancelot took a few steps backwards towards the hall. Kojiro did not move.

"Move back or she dies." It said.

"If she dies then I will cut apart each one of you." Assassin said. "Then we will see your true skill for a moment, before it is swept away and wasted."

The Assassins laughed. "Destroy some of us and the whole will remain." They chanted. "Our deaths will be but a sting to our whole. Their deaths will be the end of yours."

"The Devil take you and your riddles cowards!" Lancelot shouted. He looked around the room tensing himself to move, rush forward and tear the Servants apart before they could react but it was ussless. No matter how fast he was he knew that he wouldent be able to make it in time before they slit Krisikkas throat. Standing their for a little he felt his heart sink. They were beaten. With great agony he bent his knees and knelt. "I give myself up." He said in a hollow voice. "For the price of my Masters life I submit to your cowardice. May God judge between us."

One of the Assassins chuckled.

"And what say you longblade?" Another called. "Your Master or your honor?"

Kojiro's eyes narrowed ever so slightly more. In the arms of the Assassin Suzuka gasped and gave a sob. Kojirou's hand did not waver. He met the eye holes in the mask of the Assassin before him. The empty holes stared back.

"**WAIT!"** A voice shouted. Out if the darkness of the hall came the sound of running footsteps "**STOP! STOP I COMAND YOU!" **

Into the room ran the figure of a man. Dressed in dark clothes that rather resembled a cross between a leather overcoat and a cloak, he was large but well balanced with a solid build and a wide honest looking face. As for what his nationality might be it was difficult to say, he looked mostly Asian apart from his unusual height, however his skin was strangely darker than most. Despite his obvious youth his hair was nearly entirely white.

"Assassin!" He shouted once again when no one moved. "Stop this! Let them go, release them immediately!"

"Master!" One of the Assassins hissed. We have them at our mercy now! The Knight had already surrendered to us."

"Let them **go now and move away** or I will use a **command spell**!" The man shouted horsly at them, shaking from head to foot at the sight he had rushed in on.

Reluctantly the Assassins lowered their weapons and backed away, releasing the two girls who both fell to the floor, Krisikka dissolving into tears while Suzuka stared wide eyed into space.

The instant the Assassins had retreated Lancelot lept forward placing himself between the two maidens and the dark masked Servants who were now crowded into one end of the room.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lancelot growled, his hands shaking in rage as he stood there facing them. "Speak before I chose to avenge my honor and these maidens dignity!"

The nearly white haired man bowed low in front of Lancelot, only raising his head after a long time. "Forgive me Sir." He choked out sounding sincerely aghast at what had happened. "I never wanted to hurt your Master's. Please forgive me!"

"Who are you?" Lancelot thundered, pure wrath ponding through his veins and making his vision go red.

I am Shirou Emiya, this is my Servant. Assassin." The man said quickly.

From the floor Krisikka hiccuped and gave him a weird look. "Uncle Shirou?" She blurted out in disbelief.

*Scene *

"So you to k-know each other?" Suzuka asked shudering and giving the man who called himself Shirou a sideways look.

"Of course." Krisikka said. "That's Shirou Emiya. Everybody says he's crazy, but Mom always like him a lot, and he would come over sometimes."

"You really have grown up haven't you Krisikka." Shirou said looking at her fondly. A moment later he downcast his eyes again. "Its all my fault. Nearly got you killed."

Krisikka seemed to think for a little, putting her finger to her mouth before agreeing with him. "Yeah. I could have _died_ because of you just then. Thanks Mr. Shirou."

Her agreement did not seem to cheer him up.

Recovery from the incident that had played itself out in the guest room had taken long time. Despite his Mistresses assurances of knowing him by the time Lancelot was willing to trust the man enough to let him move from the corner and was certain that the Assassins had really stood down it was already 12:30. Both girls had had a realy bad scare, and by the time either Suzuka or Krisikka were composed enough to show themselves it was 2:00 in the morning.

But meet they did, all of them together in one of the many spare room the Castle seemed to posses.

"I would not blame you if you did not forgive me." He said his eyes downcast. "But I assure you that I did not orchestrate this."

"This was the work or your Servant then?" Leberecht asked looking skeptical.

Shirou nodded. "We arrived a few days ago. I knew about the Einzbern Castle and thought it would make a good place to stay for the time we were here. When I got their it was empty. We must have arrived while you and your partner were out in the city. I settled here and have had Assassian scouting for the other Servants who I was told would be here by now."

"When you people moved in it surprised me. I didn't know who was coming, and I am not on good terms with all members of the Einzbern clan. I moved to be safe and told Assassin to investigate you. As you can see he disobeyed me and attacked."

Lancelot gazed at Shrou from the depth of his helm. He did not know what to make of this one. On one hand he seemed genuin in his apology, and he _had_ sacrificed his perfect advantage, a chance he would most likely never get again. And his Mistress seemed to know him personally.

But at the same time he could not forgive him. He had knelt before this mans Servant and thrown away his pride because of him. His remorse did nothing to make the threat that had nearly killed Krisikka less real.

Assassin regarded the newcomer with a chilly air but said nothing to him while Arisa just looked at him curiously and a little fearfully. During the whole incident she had been pinned to the wall with a dagger by her shirt, the handiwork of one of the Assassins that had decided on whim not to kill her.

The little council sat in silence all of them staring at Shirou unwilling to say anything or reach any kind of conclusion on whether or not to trust him. The tension was palpable.

"L-l-l look." Suzuka said after a while working up her courage. "I-I dont know what exactly happened. B-but my friend Nanoha, she had lots of time when their were people who accidentaly came across as bad, w-when they weren't. Maybe we could... maybe we could trust him..."

There was silence.

"That is the most naive thing I've ever heard ."Leberecht said coldly. "Exactly what I would expect from a stupid parisite like you. We should kill him. Then we wont have to worry about whether or not he's telling the truth, or wheather or not he can cortroll that Servant of his."

"Look." Shirou said solemnly. "I wouldent blame you if you killed me, but before you decide I want to ask something. When I first came here I did it to look for a certain person. A Servant from the last war and the one before. She would be a Saber. Blond hair, short, blue and silver armor with an invisible sword. Have any of you seen anyone like that?"

None of us would know." Leberecht said. "We all got here to late to meet up with the other-"

"**What did you say**?"

Everyone in the room froze and turned to look at Lancelot. The Knight was griping the side of the table so hard it was starting to crack.

Shirou hesitated for a moment. "Look."He said. "We don have to much time. You said that you missed the other Servants and that you don't know where they went, but I do. I met up with the Mage Association on my way here and they filled me in. You are looking for an organization called the TSAB-"

"WHAT?" Suzuka yelped standing bolt upright. She was quickly followed by Arisa who shouted likewise.

"-And I am looking for a Servant by the name of Arturia Pendragon."

A split second later Lancelot stood bolt upright as well staring down at Shirou from behind his helm. "Who are you and how do you know that name?"

Shirou met Beserkers eye through the slit of his visor. "I'm Shirou Emiya. He said naming himself again. "I was Sabers Master and the victor of the 5th war."

*Scene *

_Well guys Im back. Its been a long time. Hope you all enjoyed this Chapter. I know some of your complates already. Trust me the Next Chapter will be back to Mid and things are going to pick up._

_Man this was a long one. I was planing a superchapter and the nI cut it down and it went and turned into a superchapter anyway. Hope it was not to boring._

_Would like feed back on the charicterization, this was prety much a 100% charicter driven chapter, not so much action except at the very end. How did I do? What did you think of the slower moments?_

_I would like to point out that between Kojiro and Lancelot just because Lancelot moved back does not mean he made a weaker choice that Kojiro. It was difference in priority that dictated why one gave and the other held ground. At that moment lacelots highest priority was Krisikkas survival while Kojiro's highest priority was killing the Assassins. Does this seem in character? _

_So what do you think? Shiorus new Servant? Could this be interesting? _


	13. Chapter 13 A Golden Meeting

Cht 13 A Golden Meeting.

_Mid-Childa: The City of Cranagan. The Present._

Looking out the car window as the scenery flew past Vivio Takamachi rested her cheek in her hand and chewed it on the inside. It was a bright Saturday morning, the blue sky spotted here and there with white fluffy clouds and sailed lazily over the city. Normally she would have been delighted to be going to the Saints Church even on a Saturday but this was different. Nanoha was dropping her off and would not be coming back for a long time. Not until the strange terrorist incident was over anyway.

It made her nervous. Normally she never worried about her mother, her great strength was admired world wide after all, but this time was different. Fate had been injured along with several of her family's friends. Normally going to the Saints Church felt like an exiting outing. Even aside from the Numbers who were her more like older sisters to her than anything she was well know all through the entire Church and was friends with many of the other people who worked there. Now though it just felt like she was being evacuated. Which she was in fact. And not the only one. Recently there had been a rash of parents getting their children out of the city. The disappearances were rising at a steady rate.

Vivio held out her free arm and idly threw a couple of slow punches into the air. It wasn't like she was helpless. Hadn't she learned Strike Arts from Nove? Hadn't she gone farther than almost any other in the Mid championship?

"I know you might have mixed feelings about this." Nanoha said from the front seat. "But don't worry. The Nakajima girls are going to be there, so is Sister Schach and Chantez. You'll be just fine. And you will get the hear news of whats going on to."

"Mmm." Vivio murmured, looking out the window absently. Off in the distance she could see the more woodsy area of the suburbs, the part where the really rich people lived. The mansions stuck out above the tree line here and there like islands in the distant green. From here they almost looked like towers to her, like little fortresses of wood that overlooked everything else. She wondered what it would be like to have a house like that. All things told her parents could definitely afford it but Nanoha didn't like that kind of environment.

Peering at them from far off she thought idly that one of them would make a good place to hide out, if say, she was a superhero or something. One of those houses would be just like a secret base, you could hide in it, maybe put up some defensive spells and nobody would find you while you did your daring deeds.

"Fate Mama thinks that with all these new armed forces coming in we should be able to get to the bottom of this in a week or more." Nanoha went on cheerfully. Vivio grimaced slightly inside. Her mother was a master at instilling other people with her brand of confidence and always had been for as long as she could remember, but over time Vivio had come to be able to read her, and now she could tell that Nanoha mama was not always as confidant as she seemed. Now was one of those times.

"Yeah, I just thought that I could go with you this time."

"Well, I'm sure you would make a good armed forces Member." Nanoha said making Vivio's heart speed up a little. "But you will have to wait till your out of middle school at least."

Vivio drooped her head and went back to looking out the window.

"Don't worry about it." Nanoha said as if sensing her disappointment. "Keep working hard and I'm sure you'll become whatever you want. You've already done lots more than most your age, so give it a rest."

The car ride over to the Saints church did not take to long and before she knew it they were parking in the lot nearby and getting out together.

The front of the Saints Church headquarters loomed before them, tall and majestic as always with its white cathedral spires reaching up towards the sky. They approached it with a causal air. They were very familiar with the grounds. Vivio loved to come here and had been in and out of the place nearly all her childhood so much so that it was like a second home to her.

The Saints Church was a quiet place, thought not oppressively so. Despite the fact that it was a center of one of the largest religious organizations in the world the place was quite open. Unlike the high security basses of the TSAB the Saints Church leaned towards openness even at the cost of potential vulnerability.

Not to say that the place was undefended of course. Vivio knew how strong some of the members were. She had seen for herself over the years and even learned first hand: The Saint Church might not have the same military manpower and mindset as the TSAB but their knights were often the strongest combatants that you could find anywhere, beating the average TSAB armed forces solder nine times out of ten.

After all, they were the successors of the Ancient Belkan traditions. Militant as well as cultural.

The two of them made their way thought the entrance, it led into the courtyard its garden like interior dotted with rose bushes and little round tables. There seemed to be some fort of work going on however. Sisters were moving two and fro, shepherding small groups of children around while parents hugged them goodby or waved vaguely.

"Vivio!"

Vivio turned and looked. Walking towards her with a bounce in her step was a small blond girl about her age wearing a nun's habit, her face set in a chipper smile.

"Chantez!" Vivio exclaimed smiling at her friend. The girl flounced over and gave a little curtsy to all three of them.

Chantez was a Church Knight in training who Vivio had met and befriended two years ago during the Inter Mid Tournament. Together they had been sparing partners for a while and even after the tournaments end they had kept up with each other often meeting when Chantez had free time or when Vivio was visiting the Church in her's.

"Your Majesty." Chantez said giving Vivio another curtsy. She took it without comment. It was a habit of those in the Church to address her as such ever since it had been learned that she was in fact descended from the Saint King Olivie. At first Vivio had found it awkward but the residents would not be discouraged and in the end she had simply decided to take it as a term of endearment, much like the 'Chan's' and 'Sama's' that Nanoha often used from her own country.

"Are you coming over with the others?" Chantez asked when she had risen.

"The others?"

"Yeah. A bunch of people are bringing their children here now with the disappearances going on. We've been busy on and off helping people evacuate their kids all day."

"Ohh..." Vivio said. "Well... Nanoha Mama is dropping me off here until she gets back... I guess I am."

"Well." Nanoha said trying to cheer them both up. "You don't need to worry about Vivio going away. I've brought her here to stay just until I finish my work and the danger passes."

"Oh." Chantez said sounding happy with the revelation.

"She'll even help you out while she's here wont you Vivio-Chan." Nanoha said winking at her daughter.

"You bet." Vivio chimed back. Chantez threw one of her fists into the air in a silent gesture of triumph at the news. Vivio smiled. While she came over often it had been a while since Vivio had been able to stay for any extended period of time.

It took only a few minutes for Nanoha to clear everything up with the Church officals and then the two said their goodbyes. Although she was exited to be back at the Saint Church Vivio couldn't help but feel a bit forlorn as she waved at her mother's disappearing car from the front of the Church.

"I hope that Einhalt come's over." She mussed as they turned back towards the inner courtyard. Now that she thought of it she really hopped that she did, they still needed to talk about Oliviewith *&^*&. With that thought both the mystery that Einhalt had discussed with her and the strange encounter with the pail girl at school popped back into the front of her mind making her blink.

"That would be sick." Chantez agreed. Inside however the nun in training was glad that the older platinum haired girl was not around. She liked Einhalt quite a bit but she thought her boring and found that when Vivio and Einhalt were together they tended to forget about everyone else.

"You would not believe what happened to me over the week." Vivio said excitedly.

"Heh?"

"Me and Einhalt were staying behind at school right? And when we were there the strangest little girl came up to us. She was all white." She said starting to explain the strange encounter. Chantez listened intently an the way back but found the whole thing more funny than anything. She was not the type to take things she had not seen seriously and rather than any genuine speculation like Vivio was hoping for she merely began to list off remarks she thought would have been funny to have said to the girl.

They arrived back in the courtyard garden laughing to themselves at one of Chantez's lines when they stopped. Standing in the courtyard was a familiar face of a certain cyborg.

"Nove!" Vivio exclaimed, making her way over to the tall red head who was standing by one of the tables. Vivio had known Nove Nakajima for almost all her life now. While originally she had been among the very people who had helped in her abduction, after the Scaglietti incident she had become one of the people Vivio looked up to the most. She had in fact, at Fates urging, become Vivio's personal mentor. It had been from her she had learned the strike arts, and Nove had been her official coach all through the Inter Middle tournament.

If her two mothers were trying to impress grace and lady likeness upon her they could not have chosen a worse mentor for their daughter. Nove was and always had been a hot blooded tomboy, one who proclaimed her intent with a brazen voice and settled her problems with her fists.

She was standing there in her usual white hoodie looking at them with a crooked grin as they entered, her hands folded over her chest. "Hello Vivi." She said giving her a half smile.

"Nove I- Wha!" Vivio tripped, lost her balance and nearly sprawled on her face as something large suddenly emerged from the ground right beside her with a 'woosh!'

"Hello Vivi!" A cheerful voice from behind her burst out.

"Sein!" She gasped turning around as soon as she regained her balance. Sure enough standing behind her leaning against a wall was Sein, Nove's older sister dressed in a Nuns habit like Chantez and grinning mischievously. Vivio grinned back feeling torn between joy and irritation. As a group of sisters the Numbers were a pretty diverse as far as personality, out of all of them however Sein had by far the most flair for playfully antagonism. While she wasn't exactly hyperactive to the same degree as Wendi she was by far the more successful and devoted prankster.

"I thought your mom would drop you off. No Einhalt this time?" She asked looking around for her absent friend.

Vivio shook her head. Despite the fact that her and Einhalt were the best of friends it did not change the fact that they were still a few years apart and could not spend as much time together as Vivio would have liked."

"Pity. I hear both your moms got put up on this case."

"Yes. They want it to end as soon as possible Nanoha said, so they both are going at it with everything they have." Vivio said with pride. One thing for certain. Having two of the most renowned TSAB agents for parents never got old.

"Yup. And we are as well." Nove said.

"W-what?"

"We- that is all us former Numbers- have been assigned to a specialty squad. They want us to help stop these lunatics. Order came in just yesterday."

"Oh." Vivio said feeling her hear sink a little. "So you wont be around while I'm, here?"

"Fraid not." Nove said with a touch of regret. "We only have an hour or so now before we head out. Cinque is in the back talking with Carim and Schach right now."

Vivio grumbled slightly to herself. Even though they had been the ones to kidnap her all those years ago, to her the Numbers were like cousins.

"Well that's okay." Chantez said cheerfully. She was trying to revive the mood. For her she would always be a person who tried to bring and preserve cheer wherever she went. "We can still get some time together. Vivio!"

"Eh?"

"Fight me."

"Oh." Vivio said looking back and forth between Nove and Chantez. It had been a while since she had spared with anyone, her time allowed to the Strike Arts having taken a plunge since the Inter Middle tournament two years ago, replaced by focus on her grades. True she still spared with Einhalt but it had been a while since she had done so with any of her other friends.

"Sure I guess." She said looking to Nove for conformation.

The redhead nodded. "Heh. Something like that would be a good send off for us. After all it would be best for us to depart with a fighting mood."

*Scene *

Vivio breathed in slowly and adjusted her stance as she watched Chantez circling her, her two stylized Tonfas ready in each hand. The two of them were standing in the middle of a natural ring of trees with soft green grass underfoot. It was a small secluded place not far from the Saint Churches entrance that was used for such occasions.

The Nun in training gave her Tonfas a playful twirl and then shot forward swinging both her weapons at once.

In that instant Vivio quicksteped backwards and to the side and then lashed out with her foot as her sparing partner flew past.

She missed by an inch, Chantez's speed being, as always faster than she anticipated.

With that same frightful quickness the Nun in traning spun around and launched a volley of strikes at her. To close to evade them Vivio blocked and parried with her reinforced arms and then threw a return kick in Chantezes direction as soon as an opening presented itself.

The display was much like any martial arts duel might be but at the same time it was utterly different. The two sparring friends were moving at so fast that they blurred to the normal eye, their kicks and strikes coming in so hard that they sent up tufts of wind that could be felt on the other side of the clearing. It was an intense display between fighters who could dodge bullets or uproot trees if they chose to.

Normally such physical ability would be well beyond the ability's of any human, much less two children. But such was the wonders of the Strike Arts.

Magic was an old old art, its currant form dating back hundreds of years and in that time countless styles of application had been formulated. It was this, the Strike Arts that had been created for the purpose of unarmed combat in the modern era. It was its own style of marital arts, one that focused on the legs and arms to deliver strikes.

But at the same time it was mixed and balanced out with Magical power to transform something that would only be a curiosity otherwise into something that could be used to battle against the full scope of technology and opposing sorcery. And so, with magical power coursing through their limbs, and a barrier jacket harder than steel protecting their flesh the two girls battled.

It was quite a display. Both had been training from a very young age and both had participated in the Inter Middle tournament two years before, a martial competition that had drawn young fighters from all over the TSAB. Both of them had done exceedingly well, with Vivio coming out near the top and even facing off against the previous years champion.

And now two years latter, even though neither of them was yet in their teens there was little flaw in either's technique. For Chantez it was her great natural talent for speed and the time spent with the other members of the Saint Churches fighting arm.

For Vivio it was her countless spars with her friend Einhalt and her heritage that came from one of the greatest hand to hand combat masters of all time, the Saint King Olive Segbrecht. More than even this though it was the long and careful dedicated instruction of her mentor Nove to bring that heritage to its highest potential.

They had not found her highest potential yet but whatever it was it had to be high, because at her currant level she was already stronger than some Masters.

With a final trade of blows the two leapt apart. Panting slightly and smiling they resumed circling each other looking for openings.

"Your majesty be careful." Nove warned sternly as she saw Vivio about to make a move she did not agree with.

"No fair. You cant help her silly!" Sein scolded. The two were watching the spar from the sidelines together, Nove occasionally trying to give advice while Sein worked to prevent her by sneaking up and clasping her hand over Nove's mouth whenever she thought her sister was about to speak. This behavior had resulted in Nove aiming a punch in her direction whenever she noticed Sein starting to drift closer.

"Its a spar you dolt!" Nove scowled. "We are supposed to give advice if we- mmmm!" She didn't finish. With a move like a squirrel in spring Sein had suddenly weaved in once more and covered Nove's mouth with her hand, smartly dodging her punch in the process.

Paying no heed to their elders struggles Vivio and Chantez continued to move slowly in circles around each other.

With a sharp movement Vivio feinted left and then charged to the right taking advantage of the split second confusion Chantez experienced. Flying in close she hammered her with everything she had trying to overwhelm her defense.

Seeing her disadvantage Chantez backpedaled and tried to dart to the side. But it was the same tactic that Vivio had used during their last exchange and she was ready for it. Even as Chantez dived to the side Vivio adjusted her footing and let loose with a wide kick, catching Chantez in the center of the chest. She felt her heel collide against her friends barrier jacket with satisfying impact and she was down.

Chantez let out an "oof" as she fell to the ground dropping one of her weapons in the process. The next instant Vivio was standing over her extending her hand, a playful smile on her face.

Her friend sighed dramatically and let go of her other weapon. "Aright you win." She said in a resigned tone, taking Vivio's hand as if in surrender. The moment she was on her feet again however she threw herself forward with a cry and tackled Vivio to the ground. With a small noise of indignation Vivo started fighting back the two rolling around on the grass together while Chantez giggled.

All right very good you two." Nove said stepping forward. "Now if- Hey!"

With a leap and a cry of her own Sein had jumped on Nove from behind sending her forward into a dog pile with the two kids.

"Sein you rat!" Nove exclaimed as Vivio and Chantez both abandoned their own fight to grab her while Sein held her legs. For a moment the four of them all struggled on the ground together in a big heap.

"Sein you big idiot." Nove snapped grabbing her older sister by the collar with one hand while she fought of Vivio and Chantez with the other. "If you think you can take me three on one then I'll show you another thing!"

Suddenly Sein blinked and stopped fighting. And looked up. Her eyes widened. Nove was just about to let go and see what it was when it hit her. It hit all of them.

Somehow while they were all on the ground the atmosphere of the clearing changed. There was a weight to the air, a feeling of majesty like something high and haughty was now pervading the clearing. It was indefinable yet unmistakable.

Immediately they all rolled off each other and stood as quickly as possible like they had been caught doing something bad. Still looking around Vivio turned to find the source of the change and then stilled. Behind her she heard Nove and the others make a noise of surprise.

In the trees a few yards away was Einhalt. She was glancing back and forth between them and the person standing next to her looking very uncomfortable. Normally Vivio would have lit up at the sight of her friend, but for the first time perhaps ever she found herself note Einhalt's arrival only briefly.

Beside Einhalt and watching them from underneath one of the nearby trees was a man quite unlike any other she had ever laid eyes on. The man who stood before them was tall and fair, dressed in fashionable leather and furs with sharp incredibly handsome features and pure golden blond hair. More than any of this however he seemed to carry with him a strange radiance that dazzled the senses. Above all though were his eyes, they were both red, of a shade brighter than Fates, a ruby hue that seemed to glitter as they gazed out on the world capturing everything they touched upon.

Though she was not yet old enough to understand some things never the less for a moment the sight of

him took Vivio's breath a way.

She was not alone. Behind her she thought she could hear Sein and Nove both exhale and Chantez give a little "ep!"

"So." The man said striding leisurely forward into the clearing. "This is the Saint Church." He said looking down at Vivio. The moment his eyes met hers Vivio froze completely.

"Oh- u-um hello!" Sein stuttered making an attempt at introductions while flushing slightly.

He ignored her, his gaze still focused on Vivio, a little smile playing across his mouth, his eyes studying her face. She tried to return the gaze, to look him in the eye but found that somehow she couldn't. When her eyes met his she could keep them there for a second or two but soon found herself dropping them, overpowered by something she couldn't identify. It felt as though she were a small animal looking into the eyes of a great hawk.

"T-this is the Saint Church... and...I'm Sister Sein." Sein stuttered again trying to make out some form of an introduction. "Welcome..."

Sein's voice, usually so carefree and full of irrepressible spunk faltered. The man continued to pay her no attention, not even looking in her direction and he advanced upon Vivio. Chantez shifted by her side as he drew close, casting a worried look up at the man who continued to regard them with something like amusement.

"And you are Vivio. Vivio Segbrecht."

"Y-yes sir." Vivio stuttered before realizing that that was not her proper name. "N-no I mean-"

With a suddenness that made her start the mans hand flicked out and grasped her by the chin. Forcing her head upwards with careless strength he tilted her face so that he could look her directly in the eye without bending over. Considering their difference in height Vivio found her head being tilted back so far that her neck hurt.

"Hey! What are you...?" Nove started in an angry voice. She trailed off however as the man turned his head and spared her a glance for the first time. Whatever gesture he had made towards her it took all the power out of her voice in a second He returned to looking down at Vivio a moment latter.

She found herself being examined with something like mild curiosity. "I see." The man said after a little sounding moderately intrigued.

"E-Excuse me but... let Vivio go!" Vivio blinked and her attention was drawn away from the mans eyes for the first time. The voice that had spoken was Einhalt's.

The golden haired man blinked once and looked up. He smiled after a little and dropped Vivios chin.

Vivio shook herself feeling like she had just escaped from the mouth of a leopard. She did not know what to make of the man who had intruded upon them so suddenly. Hopping for direction she turned to Nove and Sein but the two of them looked almost hypnotized.

"If you want to come here fine, but don't pick on Vivio." Einhalt said her voice stronger. It seemed to cut through to the two combat cyborgs and they blinked as if only just realizing what had happened in front of them.

"Hey." Nove said, a bit of wariness present in her voice. "Who are you? What were you just doing to Vivio?"

"I came her at my leisure." The man said simply. "I had heard that there was a King who dwelt here. Take me to them."

Nove rankled at his tone, but Sein who still seemed fascinated blurted out "You mean Ixpellia?"

"So, its true. Show me."

"Now hold on Mister." Nove burst out, her voice carrying its usual strength for the first time. It seemed that whatever fascinating effect this man carried with him she had worked up the nerve to ignore.

"Who are you? And what do you think you were doing handling Vivio?" Nove stepped in between them and began to advance on him. The man did not show a whiff of concern but only turned his full gaze on Nove for the first time. A wave of something like amused contempt so heavy you could feel it seemed to fill the air and Nove faltered once more.

"I am Gilgamesh." He said in a boastful sweeping voice that seemed to make the air tremble. "My interest in the girl is merely a trivial curiosity."

"Your 'trivial curiosity' can keep its hands off my student asshole! If you pull anything funny like that again-"

"Enough." Gilgamesh interrupted, his voice drowning out Noves instantly. He took a step closer. "This small thing is nothing. Now. I wish to see this King."

"...If you want to see Ixpellia you will have to go to the head, Carim Garcea to get approval." Nove said in a strained way.

Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes and for a moment the clearing positively dripped with disdain. "I have no interest in your petty mongrel leader. I am here to see this so called King that the people talk about. Now if you will show me to this person I will be satisfied with you."

Nove stood there looking indecisive, caught between anger at the insult towards Carim and the strange pressure of the man before her. For a woman who Vivio looked up to as her mentor and always saw as almost unshakable as her parents it was a sickening moment.

Behind Gilgamesh's back Einhalt shook her head, imploring Nove to turn him down. She had and would always be the most willful of all the Numbers Sisters, the irate warrior maiden who would never stand to be manipulated.

But in front of her the golden haired man smiled and affixed her with his depth-less eyes.

To him Nove's answer was never in doubt.

*Scene *

"Einhalt._ Einhalt_!" Vivio hissed at her friend as the group walked along.

The six of them, Nove, Sein, Chantez, Vivio and Einhalt accompanying the haughty stranger through the the halls of the Saint Church with a nervous gait. The atmosphere of the group was very strange, like a dream that could not decide whether it was a nightmare or not. Gilgamesh was a conundrum that sent chills up Vivio's spine. Even at her age she could tell that the man was astonishingly good looking, and the nearly tangible feel of his presence was captivating but at the same time she could not forget the painful feeling of his hand clenching her chin or the detached look of cruelty in his eyes.

Even worse was the effect that he seemed to be having on her friends. Nove looked very wary or him but Sein was staring at him with unabashed awe shining from her face. Chantez was not much better. It was like they had not even noticed him, a complete stranger grabbing her face.

"_Einhalt!" _

Einhalt shook herself as if out of a daze and turned to Vivio at last. It had taken a while for either of them to work up the nerve to try and whisper back and forth with the stranger Gilgamesh so close. But stranger or not Vivio wanted some answers. Namely:

"_Who is that guy?_" She whispered. "_And what were you doing with him? How did you get here?_"

Einhalt gave Gillgamesh's back another glance and then slowed, the two hanging back a little from the others. "_I don't know who he is._" She made out quickly. _" I was coming up her to meet you by surprise and he came out of nowhere. Said he thought I had royal blood in me... I told him who I was." _

"_What! _Vivio whispered back, shocked._ "Why on earth did you do that?"_

"_I don't know. It... just sort of came out when he asked." _Vivio tensed at her tone. Her normally stoic friend sounded alarmed like she had never heard before. Einhalt gave the golden haired man another glance before leaning in even closer._ "I don't know whats going on Vivio, but I think that man is very very bad. I think he has something to do with Olives return!"_

"_Are you sure?" _

"_I'm positive. He knows who we are. And he came her to find Ixepella. Vivio! What are we going to do if he came here to hurt Ixpellia?" _Einhalts voice had risen in something horribly like panicmaking Vivio cringe inside.

Of all the treasures and relics that the Saint Church had in its keeping, Ixpellia was the most important. Legends of the Dark ruler of Galea were a core part of the history that the Church founded its doctrine on. The ancient king was a living legend, a figure from history who had lived at the same time as the Saint Kings Olivie and Clause Ingvalt. She was living proof of the glorious past, and though she was now in deep hibernation one day she would awaken and rejoin the world at large. It was the very real possibility of such a ruler returning in the flesh that made her so significant.

She had been found a few years before when a terrorist by the name of Runessa Magnus had tried to use her power to assault the TSAB. She was stopped by Subaru however, and the spunky cyborg had not only arrestedcorrupt enforcer but also rescued Ix. For a short time the ancient ruler had walked in the sunlight like any other person. She had even made friends with Subaru and gotten to know Vivio as well. But then she had fallen back into sleep, for a year, or a decade, or a century. No one could say. In any case she was the most monumental discovery that the Saint Church had probably ever made, and more than that she was a person Vivio regarded as a friend, even if their meeting had been brief.

And now this stranger, who seemed to twist the very air around him was heading straight for her.

"_We wont..." _Vivio hissed at last._ "We wont let him! We have to tell somebody... and if he tries anything... we'll beat him down."_

Einhalt gave a nod but did not look convinced. In front of them Gilgamesh let out a burst of laughter at seemingly random. Vivio did not know which scared her more. The laugh or the fact that Sein tried to join in a moment latter.

"_Listen" _Vivio hissed when the laughter had finally died down."_This is all wrong. One of us has to go get Carim and tell her whats happening!" _

Einhalt nodded sharply and eased away from her, falling behind and then out of sight as they rounded a corner.

The party arrived at the rather plain door that led to Ixpellia's room, the golden stranger giving a contemptuous chuckle when he saw it. The Sister who stood guard outside stepped up to question them briefly but Gilgamesh had no trouble setting her at ease. Vivio realized with guilt that even without the strangers mysterious influence they would probably be admitted simply because she was with the party. Vivio was after all, along with Subaru one of the faces that was admitted in on sight.

They walked into the room. Before them on a simple hospital bed, an IV stuck into her arm, the tiny nearly childlike form of the great ruler Ixpellia lay fast asleep, her long red hair resting around her face like a halo.

For a moment Gilgamesh looked down on her with something like surprise in his eyes. "FUHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Throwing his head back Gilgamesh laughed, filling the room with the sound of scornfully mirth that echoed off the sealing and walls of the room and made Vivio want to cover her ears.

The Sister standing guard outside poked her head into the room alarmed.

"Ah! Ah ha ha! A girl!" Gilgamesh laughed. "Yet another girl! And this one asleep!" He broke out into another peal of laughter and then moved in closer. Vivio's stomach clenched.

"Is this all? A trashy mongrel of a waif who must have a tube stuck into her flesh to live? What a joke!"

Gilgamesh gave a last laugh and then moved up even closer, standing right over Ixpellia's bed and looking down at her face with a horrible sneer.

"Oy! Mister!" Nove started. "What are you-"

Just has he had with Vivio the golden man's hand shot out. He was repulsed as his hand met some unseen barrier, the shield that helped protect Ixipell from possible assassination attempts. Gilgamesh pulled his hand back and looked at it surprised. Then he gave another laugh and thrust his hand down again.

With a small shower of sparks he pushed through as though the invisible barrier did not exist and grabbed Ixpellia's chin, pulling her sleeping head up so he could examine it more closely while the barrier gave a few pathetic sparks and then went silent completely.

The room gave a collective shutter at the action and the Sister on guard let out a small shriek. "What are you doing?" She shouted scrambling toward him. Nove gave a similar gasp and went with her.

For a second it looked like Nove and the guard were about to tackle Gilgamesh to the floor but the golden man wielded around in an instant and shot them both a look so terrible and haughty that they stopped dead in their tracks.

Apparently satisfied that they had been cowed Gilgamesh turned back to Ixpellia and resumed studying her, turning her head this way and that and then forcing one of her eyes open with his fingers. It lolled unconsciously in its socket, the green of her iris only just visible at the edge.

"As I expected. Just another termite who dares call herself a ruler." With a flick of his wrist he flung Ixipela roughly back on the bed. "I wonder if I should even spent the effort of waking this worm up."

Behind Gilgamesh the air suddenly shimmered. Not a feeling of shimmering like he gave off all the time, but an actual shimmer that made it look as though the air behind his shoulder was the surface of a pool reflecting red light.

Vivio felt a surge of panic. She clenched her fist and-

They were interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. One moment the pitter pattering of feet in the hall and the next the familiar form of Schach Nouera, the Sister who acted as Carim's bodyguard flung itself through the doorway side by side with Cinque.

"Stop right there!" Schach shouted pointing on of her tonfa's at Gilgamesh. Beside her Cinque's hands were full of knives, her limbs held back taunt ready to fling them in an instant.

Gilgamesh made no move. From behind the two of them another figure stepped into the room, this one in an elegant dress with long straight blond hair. In the doorway stood Carim Gracia. Head of the Saint Church.

Her eyes widened for a moment as she took in Gilgamesh but a moment latter they hardened. She took in the rest of the room quickly, her gaze traveling from Gilgamesh, to Vivio and the others to Ixpellia's sleeping form that had been thrown sideways on the bed, her head bent at an odd angle and one arm hanging off the side.

Carim's eyes blazed at the sight.

"Who are you?" She demanded marching forward "What have you done to Her Majesty!"

"Ho? You are one of this invalids followers?"

Carim's eyes widened even further transforming into orbs of liquid furry that sudenly held as much pressure as Gilgamesh's own. "This _invalid_? How **dare you**."

"Khe! I have met many mongrels who call themselves King but this one takes first place. A faker who cant even survive without technology is no better than the most filthy beggar."

"Step away from that bed. You are under arrest by the authority of the Saint Church! Take him." Carim said. It was an order. The benevolent Church leader who Vivio ha know for all her life as a gentle and understanding woman would no longer tolerate the blaspheming of the Church's saint.

With two sharp notes of "Hii!" Sister Schach and Cinque moved forward with weapons drawn to take the man. And then, right before it happened Vivio felt it, a twinge of horror. The expression on Gilgameshes face changed from scornful laughter to anger.

The air in the room froze. The dazzling presence that Gilgamesh seemed to carry with him suddenly exploded in intensity with the change of his expression, becoming a overwhelming torrent of force the seemed to turn the atmosphere to steel.

Much as had happened to Nove and the guard, Sister Schach and Cinque flinched back pausing in their advance before the force that now occupied the room. Sein and the guard gave out nervous squeaks.

"You dare raise you hand to restrain me? I Gilgamesh?" The mans voice came. His face was now changed. It was set in a almost feral snarl that froze Vivios blood to look at. An expression amplified ten times by enraged the intent that he was exuding. But he was not looking at her. Instead his gaze was directed at the person who stood by the doorway.

As terrible as his expression and the force in the room were Carim Garcea was still looking at him, surprised no doubt, but not cowed.

"Such outrage, to lay your hands on me! I gave you permission for no such thing!"

"Whoever you are..." Carim said in a voice strained but still strong. "We will not allow you to do as you please with our Saint!"

Gilgamesh frowned down on Carim, her defiance seemed to only enrage him further. "You will regret your impudence you wretched woman!" Once more the air behind him shimmered menacingly.

"Y- You!" Sister Schach seemed to have recovered from the shock of the rooms change. Bringing her weapons up again she prepared to defend Carim, understanding somehow that the shimmering air was an attack of some sort. Beside her Cinuqe followed suit.

"Stop!"

Vivio blinked as she realized that the voice had come from her own throat. The whole spectacle paused at her voice. Gilgamesh turned and looked at her curiously. The shimmer in the air behind him faded.

"Oh? This little whelp would stand up to me?" He seemed to ponder for a moment as if trying to decide whether he found his amusing or not. In any case, somehow her shout had broken the spell. The rooms atmosphere was back to what it was before the man's anger. The others were shaking themselves as if they had just woken from some sort of horrible trance.

Whatever had gone on in Gilgamesh's head he had apparently decided that her shout was amusing. He chuckled and gave her a very strange look. One that Carim caught causing her to quickly step between them. Gilgamesh blinked at having his gaze interrupted and his face turned back into a sneer.

"I will postpone your punishment for now woman." He drawled, stepping lazily out of the room.

"You bastard! What is that supposed to mean?" Nove shouted as he went.

Cinque Schach and Nove rushed out into the hall after him but then stopped suddenly. As the rest emerged from the room they saw. The long hallway that led to Ixpellia's room was empty.

*Scene *

_Many hours latter_

Nanoha walked down the halls of the recommissioned Long Arch with a thousand problems dancing around in her head. The moment of reunion was here, but it had only happened after a long and worrisome day.

Not an hour after she had dropped Vivio off she had received a call telling her that the Saints Church had just suffered from a security breach. The intruder was added to the list of suspects for the current incident and his profile was worth a headache. The man was a mage, possibly A or even S class or above capable of teleportation and what seemed to be some sort of strange short term mind effecting spell. He was blond and well dressed with red eyes.

That last one got her attention. Not many people with red eyes. Even fewer Mages a few random exceptions aside. Could this man be related to project F? Also the little girl, Mahail. She had also had red eyes as well as seemingly uncanny control over magic. The more evidence showed up the more a resurgence of cyborgs seemed likely.

And he had been near Vivio. Even taken a special interest in her. That one sent chills up her spine. What was the probability of two suspects appearing withing a few days both with red eyes, uncanny magical control and an interest in Vivio? Almost none. She had demanded to talk to her and her heartbeat had only slowed down after Vivio assured her it was fine several times.

Even so Nanoha had fought the urge to drive back from the Long Arch and make sure. The line up of events brought to many frightening possibility's. Someone was interested in Vivio. And from the sound of the report they were interested in Ixpellia as well.

In the end feeling torn between where she needed to be and where she wanted to be, and feeling like she had to do something she had ordered the Sisters to keep Vivio in her room for the rest of the day under watch.

And that was only a small part of her day. The unit that the Numbers were meant to form had also been delayed by the incident and she had been obliged to work out a new schedule with several other officers for them. Her mind had been on her daughter and the logistics had taken a long time.

She had to stop. She had been mulling over it all day. With great effort she pushed her daughter out of her mind and reconciled herself with the fact that the Saint's Church was probably the most Secure spot on Cranagan when the security was alert.

And so Nanoha stood facing the door before her with a very strange feeling gathering in her chest.

The circumstances were dire, it was true, and what they were here to do was undoubtedly no cause of joy but at the same time it was impossible to block out the feeling of nostalgic that was now pervading her.

She had always hoped for it, she realized this now, always thought wistfully about something like this ever since they had all parted.

Well now it had happened. They were all together again. And not just most of them either, but all of them.

She actually felt a little guilty about how happy she was feeling because of this, especially considering the horrific nature of the events that had occurred to let this happen.

When she opened the door to the briefing room of the Long Arch it was to a sight the brought her back to a time four years ago.

Off to the side of the room Subaru was chatting haply with Teana while Fate stood beside both of them similarly engaged in conversation with Hayate and Shamal while the support team including Shario Vice stood listening. Siting calmly on of the seats with her long legs crossed Signum sat regarding the door she was coming through expressionlessly. Right beside her Vita sat, hunched over in her seat with a brooding satisfied look, fingering her hammer Graff Einsen. In the middle of all of it Erino and Caro stood looking around happily at their older former team members now united while Friedrich the dragon flitted about both their heads.

The whole room looked over as she came in.

"Nanoha!" Half a dozen voices called out at once. She suddenly found herself nearly swamped by her own subordinates as Erino, Caro, Fried and Subaru all rushed over to her, the three humans crowding around her while the dog sized dragon started hovering about her face and chirping.

"Nanoha. We knew we were all getting back together but now your here its official." Hayate laughed from across the room. In the corner Vita snorted at her longstanding partners pileup.

"Hello everyone." Nanoha said returning the smile to the whole room.

"Nanoha!" Subaru nearly squealed. "This is so _great!_ It'll be just like before!... Well almost." She tacked on at the end.

Nanoha couldn't help but smile even wider at that. She knew from the get go that Subaru would be the most exited about all this. Though what she had said was true. Even though they were back together things were not the same. Erio had grown more than a foot since the days of the Scaglietti incident. And from what she had heard Caro had grown as well even if it was not in height. All of them had.

Looking up across the room she met Fates eyes and the two communicated silently. It was a tiny bit bittersweet to be here. And besides all that even though they were all in the same room the sense of being a unit had not automatically returned. Nanoha made a mental note that they would be doing at least a day's worth of drills together while they waited for the investigation to turn up results.

The thought brought her back to the reason why they were here in the first place. There would be time for reunions latter."Aten-shun!"

Erino, Caro and Subaru all stopped crowding round her immediately and shot into formation as quickly as possible, all the other members in the room save for Hayate doing the same and forming a line in front of her.

She beamed at all of them, smiling yet stern all at once, a expression that was reflected in each of their faces to some degree.

"Everyone. It is good to be back." She said standing tall and addressing them. "But for now we have out task before us. All of you are familiar with what is happening in this city and the directors of the TSAB have assigned us to be the lead team to uncover the perpetrators of these crimes."

Nanoha's face hardened as she spoke. Inside her the mood of battle was growing and it spread from there to the rest of the group. "I know we have all grown stronger since our last meeting, but our enemy's are still powerful. By our understanding they have gathered to oposse us at last several fighters and specialists of exceptional skill and brutality."

Subarus stiffened in line and Nanoha felt a twinge of pride mixed with worry. She knew how hard it sometimes was to go back into battle in the face of defeat, yet Subaru always did. That was her strength.

"Even though we are in the heart of Cranagan and have the whole power of the TSAB behind us we must be careful. Treat the situation as if we were in hostile territory. It is up to us to show them the error of their ways and save this city."

She smiled once more at the close of her speech and everyone in line gave a sharp nod. "Understood!" every voice in line chimed at once. They were ready.

And not a few hours to soon. The sun had only just gone down when an urgent message arrived at the Long Arch being broadcast into all quarters.

A high Security laboratory in the 7th Western sector was being attacked.

*Scene *

_A few hours earlier_

Far away from the Long Arch, in one of the nicer housing areas of the city, not far from where Caster made her lair a large two story house stood with the curtains drawn over the windows. It was a nice house but one that had recently gained something of a bad feeling to it.

If one were to go inside they would not notice much at first save for that it was quite. Even further exploration of the house would reveal nothing terribly unusual, that is unless one ventured through the door leading to the basement. If anyone were to do that however the reason for the houses bad feeling would become clear.

The basement stunk of rotting meat.

Of course hypothesizing that someone could wander this far to discover that was ridiculous. The whole house was wrapped up in bounded fields and it would take a concentrated magical assault to get past the front door uninvited at which point the new residents would be alerted to their presence and those determined to enter would be walking into a death trap.

Matou Zouken had chosen this house specifically for its large basement. The owners were wine enthusiasts and the lower level was quite generous with several add-on's that expanded the original basement size to an appreciable degree.

It was a good start but not enough for the old Matou's purposes. With the help of his familiars he had expanded the basement even more adding a second level beneath the first and a series of tunnels and pits under that.

Combined with the first level the second one served as his workshop and lair. The system of pits served as his worms new breeding ground. All three chambers of the basement were now slick with black slime.

He would have to see to getting rid of some of it. Though he no longer minded the slime it made for a sloppy workshop.

That was not what occupied his mind now. Sitting alone in the dark as he had for century's in his homeland he pondered the same thing he had always pondered. The next move.

The crusade had progressed much slower than he had expected. Even though he was surprised that everything had worked out as well as it had, at the same time it was not enough. The Masters were playing to cautiously.

Zouken Matou had spent hundred of years waiting for the right time in the dark. To a simple observer it would seem that he was the epitome of stagnation, a lost soul whose whole Gollum like existence was spent hiding away in the dark. They would be wrong however on a very important thing. Zouken was not Gollum and though his body rarely ever left his dark hole under the misty mountains of his house his mind was never bound there. It was constantly at work, watching the outside world with infinite calculation.

He could not be farther from the mythical possessor of the Ring. His was a master plan, and when it came time to act he was ready. It was now, in this new environment that he knew so little of that his plan was the most precarious. With so many unforeseeable factors brought on by the new environment he had to push action in every way possible.

It was the rule of the worm, when in infancy writhe and move as quickly as possible or be swallowed up by your broodmates. He had observed it for time out of mind in his dark lair and now the crusade was in that position.

It was time to move. It was time to make the others act.

Zouken rose to his feet from his chair. One of his first acts when he arrived at this place was to send Assassin to secure information from the TSAB. It had taken a while to dissect but as of now he had more information on the TSAB than anyone else save for perhaps Caster who was subject to him anyway.

And so it was he had the power to dol out information at his leisure. And he knew exactly who to give it to for the most result. Who else to tempt with the prize but one who was on a time limit? And moreover possessed a Servant who could shake the earth itself.

Turning where he stood Zouken was swallowed by darkness.

*Scene *

Evening was just starting to fall on the City of Cranagan and the last fading rays of the sun made their pitiful way though the window of the penthouse of the Hotel Ferione.

Mahail von Einzbern stared miserably at the wall in front of her as she sat in the big comfy chair she had staked out as her own. The light reflected her mood. She was tired, frustrated and angry.

The room that her maids had rented out only seemed to urk her more. Its top notch luxury served only to remind her that she was not at home on the manor house her creator had owned. Despite its nicety's it was a strange place and because of that she hated it. This was especially so because she was in pain.

Mahail hissed as she felt another sharp pang from her stomach. The sensation was about as far removed from hunger as could be. It had all started... well there was no way of knowing when it had all started but it had certainly picked up after her visit to that school. She had been feeling happy and cocky and when she had decided to show off her power what should have been child's play to her somehow went wrong. She had suffered a small circuit breakdown after only using what amounted to a few units of prana.

An accident like that should have been impossible for her and even if it had occurred it should have been a minor problem. Instead it had lead to having to rely on her two maids to help her and spending the entire night bedridden and in pain.

It did not make sense. It would never happen normally. It was all that horrible Servants fault.

Beserker was ruining everything for her. The giants enormous demand for prana even when dematerialized was like a millstone dragging her down at all times. This to made no sense. She was a homunculus of the Einzberns, she should have more than enough magical circuits to support anything and have prana left over and she did. But it did not seem to help. Whenever she used him or his drew deeply from her power she felt like something inside herself was about to tear apart. She found herself despising the huge, ugly, stupid giant that she had been shackled to.

All this pent up feeling was leading more and more to morbid lines of thought.

There she sat feeling rather sorry for herself and thinking of nothing except her own misfortune when the room went a little darker. The last rays of the sun had just vanished from her window. She noted it absently and wen back to her sulking when the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.

Mahail sat bolt upright in her chair and looked around wildly for the source of the strange prana that was invading the room.

She jumped to her feet and whipped her head around when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. For a split second she thought it was a pile of worms but the thought passed before it was even realized.

In the corner of the room furthest from the light where the shadows were thickest stood an old man in a black kimono.

"Keh! It is shameful." He scoffed in a hoarse voice.

"Who the hell are you!"

"Your Bounded fields were not even tricky to bypass. And your fortress is not even below ground. What has the Einzbern family come to?"

Mahail narrowed her eyes at the intruded who had the audacity to insult her.

"Your that creepy old man from before." Recovering from her shock now, though still greatly unsettled she composed her face and smiled. Beserker's disembodied spirit had flitted up to her room the moment she had called it. For the first time in a while she was glad to have him there. Whoever he was she could have that old man torn apart in an instant now. For some reason though, her fear did not abate.

"Your another Master then. Thought you could sneak into my living room and get away with it? Now that I've caught you I'm gona have Beserker pull your arms off." She finished with her best evil smile.

The old man gave her a rather dry look. "I did not come to play girl."

"Really? Why'd you come here then?"

"The Grail girl. Do you want it?"

Mahail paused dumbfounded. "What kind of stupid question is that?"

"I see. Very well. I suspect that even now you are beginning to feel the drawbacks of commanding a Berserker. Especially such a powerful one as _him_."

"What do you know about it?" Suspicion colored Mahail's voice. She had not told anyone about any of the trouble she had been having. Not even her two meddling Maids knew about it.

"Hmm? To me it is obvious. If even your predecessor had trouble with commanding that one then it would only be natural for a copy such as yourself to buckle under the weight... After all, Illyasveil-"

"What are you talking about?" Mahail snapped feeling a jolt of anger at that name.

"Ah." The old man grinned evilly. "I see, I see. They never told you did they? No matter."

"Told me what? What does my cousin have to do with this!"

"Why should I tell you?" The old mans voice was now as black as jet. One of his eyes opened wide reveling an inhuman orb, jet black with a staring white iris.

"Now listen carefully girl." Zouken Matou said taking a few steps forward into the room making Mahail shiver. "You have been wronged rather tragically. For you all depends now upon winning the Grail. Fortunately for you I am in a rather curious position. I have discovered the location of Grail. Unfortunately my own Servant is unsuited to attacking strong fortified positions."

"What are you getting at?" Mahail asked it even though she knew.

"I am going to give you the location of the Holy Grail. Afterward if you succeed I will tell you a little of your family history as a special reward. Please _try_ and retrieve it successfully."

*Scene *

"What's going on?" Hayate strode through the line of mission control stations towards Shario's station while the operators moved in a fury all around her.

Fates brown haired friend sat in the middle of a large circular controllboard while half a dozen telacams filled the air around her, some flashing bright warning red."We are receiving an urgent distress call from a warehouse in the Western sector... # 7 its listed as."

Hayate looked down at the blinking dot that marked its position in the city for a second. So. The mystery antagonists were finally making a move of some sort.

"Alert Riot Force 6 and have them backed up with three supporting units! Put everyone else on high alert."

"Yes Mam!" Shario acknowledged. Pressing a button on her controls she relayed the order to the troops.

Her command sent down the line Hayate breathed in and felt the usual momentary sense of question as to wheter or not she had missed anything or not. Everything was in order... but...

"What is being kept in that warehouse?"

A few seconds of typing and frowning later a small file appeared on the telacam before her. "It appears to be a high security warehouse for housing experimental mass weapons."

"I see." Hayate said feeling a resigned sense of disappointment. So this was it. Why was it always about weapons? Why all those kidnappings and murders of innocence over getting their hands on some exiting new way to spread destruction? One that would be out of date within a year or two or useless against Mages anyway.

"Get me a picture of what's going on down there."

Shario typed away for a few seconds before shaking her head. "The cameras in the area of intrusion have all been disabled."

"Recordings?"

Shario brought then up but all that was visible from the picture was an indistinct shape hurtling out of nowhere and then a shock-wave before the cameras cut out.

"Some sort of robot?" Hayate squinted at the picture. Whatever it was looked big and dark. Much larger than any person. "Must have a lot of power."

"A heavy assault unit." Shario whispered looking at it carefully. Those bastards have a war bot. How in the Saints name did they sneak it into the city?"

Subaru threw the door to her room open and looked out. It was just after dinner and they had been preparing to go to to bed early. Next to her on the other side of the room Teana scrambled out of bed as well and looked around. "Oi, they didn't make us wait long did they?"

"Come on Teana!" Suburu shouted strapping her skates on. "Mach Caliber!" With a flash of light that lasted only an instant from everyone's perspective but her's Subaru speed off down the hall.

"Geze!" Teana grumbled throwing her shirt on over her head. "They could have at least waited till we had time to drill a little."

The whole group met in the briefing room where a large telicam floated, Hayate's face looking out at them from it while reinforced floated in the background. Carlo was the last in and arrived panting slightly but quickly moved into line. They were all clothed in their barrier jackets. Fate was not there.

"We are all here." Hayate said quickly glancing over the room.

"Where is Fate?" Teana interjected quickly.

"Fate has been running patrols with the other squads involved in this case for some days now. She has been called away to deal with a new disturbance that occurred around the Saint Church earlier this morning and work with the Numbers. She will be called in with reinforcements if anything goes wrong. Signum will be standing in for her today."

"What? Our first mission and we go without Fate?"

"Teana." Signum cut in. She stopped immediately.

"The disturbance is coming from a warehouse in the western sector of the city." Hayate said, the telicam changing to a map that revealed its location. A few minutes ago the warehouse security came under attack by an unknown assailant, presumed to be the Incident suspects. As we suspected earlier the enemy seems to be in possession of some form of combat robot. Vita and Subaru taking it down will be your priority. Signum give support as needed. The rest search and engage with caution."

Hayate stepped back from the camera and gave a sharp salute. It was returned and then they were off dashing towards the hanger bay.

*Scene *

Rin Tosaka sat in the chair in the upper story of the house. Under her closed lids her eyes turned back and forth in her sockets as if she was dreaming. She was in the act of monitoring the city from her familiars. "Oh shit..." She muttered to herself. Opening her eyes quickly she stood up. "Archer."

With a glimmer f light the tall dark skinned Servant appeared in front of her.

"Archer this is bad. Beserker and his Master are moving. They have already attacked a building." Walking over quickly to her chest of drawers she rummaged through it. When she had come through she had only a single set of clothes and it had taken a few shopping trips to set up a functioning wardrobe. She would need something warmer tonight.

"They could have uncovered the location of the Grail. Go tell Bazett, we are moving out."

Archer nodded once and then disappeared. Bazett and Lancer had gone out that night, but with Archers magnificent senses it should not take long to find them.

Rin threw on a red coat, this one so much like the one she had once preferred in high school. Then pulling open another drawer she grabbed for her gems. It seemed tonight would perhaps be the start of the war in earnest. However they operated the TSAB were sure to respond to a frontal attack of that sort, especially is it was indeed the location where the Grail was being kept.

Briefly tying the lace at her neck she bolted from the room.

It was the same all over the city. In the dark and hidden places the news was traveling like wildfire.

"Beserker is moving... Beserker is moving..."

*Scene *

Vivio sat on her bed with her knees folded up against her chest. It was night now and time to go to bed but sleep was impossible for her. She knew that at this very moment the Church grounds were being secured by all sorts of security measures. The defenses around Ixpellia's room had been tripled in half an hour. Now that entire hallway was blocked off to everyone except security.

To say it had been a day to remember would be a bad joke. After the disappearance of the stranger Gilgamesh it had been an uproar. Because of the strange nature of the security breach everyone in the room had been magically scanned for possible mind altering spell craft. When none had turned up they had all been psychoanalyzed within the hour. Even Carim had submitted to the intensive questioning.

And at the end not all was fine. Sein had been detained and nearly deemed unfit for duty when she had jokingly commented on the strangers good looks. In the end the planed deployment of the Numbers unit had been delayed by seven hours. Cinque had been furious.

Apart from that she had seen little. Because they were so young Einhalt Chantez and her had only been asked a few questions about what had happened and then allowed to leave after they were confirmed free of mind altering affects.

And then she had been sent to her room. She had been stuck there nearly all day. Einhalt and Chantez had been let in after a while but it was a crummy evening. They had sat and talked about the stranger and how close it had been, thinking up theory's as to who he was. Einhalt was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was connected to the royal family of the Saint Kings, and even brought forth the theory that perhaps he _was_ one of the ancient kings. After all Ix was still around wasn't she?

They had spoken for a long time and decided that in the morning they would tell Carim everything about there encounter with the albino girl and Einhalt's sighting of the Olive look alike in the street.

Then it had been time for bed. Einhalt had declined Vivio's offer to sleep in the same room with her, and Chantez had her own quarters with the other Sisters so she was now alone.

And so she had sat in the dark alone for the past hour in a futile effort to get to sleep.

Shifting from her back to her side for what felt like the tenth time Vivio chewed on the edge of her lip a little. This had been the second time whatever mystery seemed to be going on in this city had come into contact with her... She wondered.

Just as she was beginning to feel sleepy something in the room changed. Instantly her body was as taut as a rope. A very familiar feeling had suddenly invaded the chamber.

Vivio sat up and slid off her bed looking wildly around the room for the source of the presence. There was nothing.

Suddenly right in front of her there was a flash of gold. The light condensed and an instant later Gilgamesh was standing in front of her. His dress and manner were exactly as it had been that morning, and as his terrible radiance filled the room Vivio took a step backwards.

Had he been invisible or was it a teleportation spell? Surprisingly even to herself she did not feel as much fear as she thought. Mostly just a sense of anger for what he had done to Ix..

"So little maid." He said in a sly voice as if he were continuing some conversation they had only stopped minutes ago. "Are you ready to pay?"

"Pay? For what?"

"Do not pretend to be stupid. You came in between a King and his prey, for that you must pay. Most do so with their lives."

Vivio blinked and took another step back. She had picked up a lot of faith in her Strike Arts ofver the years, but something told her that if this man wanted to he could squash her like a bug.

Gilgamesh smiled maliciously. "However, the king is not without mercy. In this case I have chosen to grant it." He turned his menace filled eyes fully upon her and once more she felt herself nearly buckle under the weight of them. His expression however was pleasant. "Vivio Segbrecht... I have spared you because I have found a modicum of interest in you."

"Segbrecht is... not my real name..." Vivio muttered feeling more frightened now than when he had threatened to kill her.

"Don't speak such garbage!" Gilgamesh's lip curled in anger. "I said I had a _modicum_ of interest in you, the reason for this is thus. As far as I can see you are the last of the royal line that this place once revered. Your interest to me lies in that. If you fade from that my interest in you fades in turn, and I do not forgive people for ceasing to interest me."

"So you just want me because I'm descended from Olivie. Is that it?" Vivio found her voice rising. Segbrecht was Saint King Olivie's last name. Though she was descended from her using it had... arrogant connotations. Besides, Nanoha and Fate were her parents. One of the things both her parents had told her was that she should never depend upon her heritage. Furthermore it was for this reason that she had been kidnapped so long ago. To Vivio such an idea was not just an affront to everything she had learned, but a kind of personal heresy as well.

"Yes exactly." Gilgamesh said with defeating simplicity.

"Then you're a bad man!" Vivio clenched her fists, her anger overcoming the effects of Gilgamesh's dazzling presence for a moment.

"Bad does not apply to Kings, far less me. Besides complaining about why you interest me is pointless. I decide what draws my attention, you can only reciprocate."

"But your wrong! Who my ancestor is does not determine who I am!" Vivio insisted, repeating what her mothers had said to her so many times.

"I did not say that, and you are becoming boring. _Quickly_." With the last word the strangers eyes flashed again beating her outrage to the ground. The promise of death was carried in them, and Vivio felt her mouth go dry. She suddenly felt for the first time that the man who had invaded her room might really and actually live up to his word if she said or did the wrong thing.

Seeing that his audience was ready to listen again Gilgamesh continued. "Tell me Vivio, have you ever strongly desired something?"

"Sure... I guess." She said not sure about where this interview was going.

"And this thing, did you stretch out your hand to grasp it?"

"I... think so?" Vivio answer was more a of a question than an answer. The nearest thing she could think of to his question was her friendship with Einhalt and that had been more of a two way bonding after a little persistence from herself.

As if reading her mind Gilgamesh shook his head. "I did not mean simple things. Girl, have you ever stretched out your hand and grasped what others would not dare to grasp? To fearlessly pick your desire like a fruit from a forbidden tree because it is yours by right of position. That girl, is the essence of being a King."

Vivio stared up blankly at him confusion written on her face. To her it sounded as if he was suggesting that being a thief was what made a king.

Gilgamesh saw perhaps some of what was written on her face and a look of irritation flashed over his features.

"Vivio, do you know why I posses even the smallest fraction of interest in you for being descended from that King?"

He did not wait for her to answer but kept on going. "When I came here I was surprised to realize that such a land existed. I have always wondered about the existence of other worlds like the original you see, and when I discovered this place I was a little delighted. For a while now I have been exploring this place with interest. I decided to investigate the history of this world and when I did I noticed something that interested me..."

Despite herself Vivio found that she was leaning forward.

"It was a familiar face looking at me from out of a book." Gilgamesh smiled and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket turning it towards Vivio. She gasped. The paper was a page from what looked like a text book of some sort. On it was the iconic picture that no resident of the TSAB or anywhere in the civilized multiverse would ever fail to recognize. Saint King Olivie was peering out at her from the page, seated in her simple chair with her hands folded on her lap with a small smile gracing her face.

Something inside Vivio was falling into place, all history she knew revolved around the one in that picture, it was the savior of the civilized world, the Saint King venerated by countless, and her genetic ancestor. And here was one who claimed to have known her! "Y-You knew Olivie? Th-then Einhalt was right! You're*&^-!" Vivio eyes twitched as she trailed off pointing at him lamely. Gilgamesh was giving her an amused look she could not interpret. "That is something I am not going to simply tell you... yet.

Now Vivio, like I described to you, I possess a burning desire for something. A treasure that I have pursued for some time. You and your ancestor bear a resemblance to her to precise to overlook. For that reason I have taken interest in you."

Vivio was now standing with rapt attention. This was something that Einhalt had wished for all her life, to meet someone like this. While she had never wanted it with the same intensity as her friend she was now determined to store up everything she could of this meeting and relay it to Einhalt at the nearest opportunity.

"So, I decided to instigate you, and when I did what did I find? A common little girl with no aspirations or quality befitting of a connection to my treasure. A mongrel of a king in the making."

Vivio blinked slightly hurt at his words but the golden man showed no singes of caring.

"So girl. I have decided to aid you. Consider this your first true education. Be proud girl, few have ever received such a thing from me..." His gaze became distant for a moment as though remembering someone fondly.

"Wait... your going to teach me stuff?" Vivio asked her pulse speeding up. By now, whether it was her own excitement or the strange prescience that Gilgamesh possessed all thoughts of his previous hostility had completely flow her mind.

"Indeed." Gilgamesh said smiling wickedly. "In order for me to allow your existence you must prove that you have not forgotten your place. I will test your worthiness as royalty."

"My worthiness?" Vivio lit up slightly. She had always been good at the Strike Arts, if he was speaking about a test then she was ready.

"Yes, now, as you know this city has recently become a battleground. This is a struggle greater than your people know, it is a struggle between legends."

"Wait, then... you know whats going on?" Vivio asked her eyes going wide at the thought. She felt her heart flutter. All this mystery over what was going on and why, and this man knew!

"Oh yes. Though I am above it, its participants are known to me."

The golden man's hand shot out once more and he pulled her close making her flinch. "Now listen to me carefully girl. Some distance from here in that city there is a particular man. A sniveling feeble minded worm who dares to destroy my subjects without my consent and even desires to steal away my treasure. You may know of him, he is causing quite a disturbance here by preying upon the young."

Vivio gasped. "D-do you mean the- the one who's kidnapping the other kids?"

"The same. This dog makes his lair under the city streets in the sewer."

"Wait, you know where he is? W-why haven't you told anybody?"

"For a king the responsibility of weeding his garden does not fall on him. That is the duty of the gardeners. For you however this is a perfect test. Your heroic deed to prove the strength of your blood is higher than those simpletons around you."

"My mother says that I shouldn't... think about my ancestry like that."

"What the plebeians say does not change the ways of royalty. That way is and always will be the same. To take the troubles of others on yourself. For the commoner what they say is to preserve their own worthlessness, but one of royalty lives by a different way. It is your blood that you should do as you please. Your entitlement to smite those who anger you. What you have been told is nothing but the common filth seeking to pull the royal down to their level. They would take your blood and make it as worthless as their's is."

"To pull the high blooded down in such a manner." He ground out, the note of anger in his voice making Vivio's knees suddenly feel weak. "Such a thing is unforgivable."

"You must prove that your blood has not been pulled down so far." He said with sudden sternness. "Otherwise for a royal to exist in such a fallen state, you would be unworthy of life. Pride is your first lesson. Crush this worm and I may take more interest in you."

For anyone else Vivio would have regarded such a speech as lunacy, as some stranger she had never met blatantly contradicting all the teachings of those she loved and cared about with lies so preposterous that they were laughable.

But this man, this Gilgamesh was different. He was an ancient king, an even older one that Vivio now believed him to be. Every word he spoke was overpowering. His very presence seemed to suffocate her and inflame her at the same time. It was the inextinguishable fire in his eyes, one that burned low for now but could leap up in an instant. His words triggered something deep in her. As he spoke she was pulled back in time, the inherited memory's of her ancestor wrenching her backwards to a time when Kings waded into the battle, and crushed the skulls of the rebellious peasants beneath their iron boots.

All this combined in a moment with something else, something that had been brewing in her for a very long time. She could fight. She knew the Strike arts better than any one else save Einhalt. So why wouldn't they let her fight?

Her mothers had been doing it when they were three years younger than her and yet they insisted that she study in school. Gilgamesh's words burned, bringing something to the front she did not even realize had existed before. Thoughts she had only contemplated before in subconscious dreams suddenly leapt to horrible life.

All her schoolmates were in awe of her. The Saints Church followers called her Majesty, her mothers fought over her with a mad scientist for the fate of the world. She knew magic, in a personal sense she was powerful, more so than many adult Mages.

She _was_ special. So much more special than any one else around her, the blood of Olive was in her veins. Why she could even look like an adult if she wanted to.

She had never looked at any of it that way before...

Whatever it was her face betrayed of her thoughts Gilgamesh picked up on instantly. He laughed merrily, a deep rich sound that made her heart race.

"Wonderful! It seems that something of your blood has survived your upbringing."

Go out." He said his voice suddenly echoing with command. "Show me if the royalty of this place are of any interest to me."

Vivio nodded softly and looked out the window. The moon was high in the sky and the night was bright with few clouds. It seemed to draw her to the window involuntarily.

She pulled the window open and popped the screen out of its place. The spring night air wafted in filling her lungs and igniting her sense of wonder even more. Her every nerve was on fire. Her it was, the first time she would really stray from the beaten path set by her parents...

Glancing back into her room at the man who was still watching her with a smile a sudden question popped into her mind. "Hey." She piped up. "There should be a guard right outside my door. Why weren't we ever interrupted in all that time?"

Gilgamesh smiled. "Don't worry, I have not disposed of your guard. That would just be troublesome latter." He produced from seemingly nowhere a tiny golden bell which she noticed was ringing softly. "When I do not wish to be overheard none hear. For a true King such details are nothing."

With a deft node she turned her head back towards the night and sprung from the windowsill.

She hit the ground lightly feet first with perfect form and looked around. Whether by some strange chance or by the design of the golden stranger in her room none of the alarms which were undoubtedly in place went off.

She would do it. She was going to find this villain and put him down for everyone, she would be the hero that her mothers were. She would save everyone.

Looking from side to side to see who was watching she slunk away from the front of the church, and then speed off under the trees.

For a while there was no sign that her escape had been observed. Then from another room in the church, facing the woods a second window slid open and from it shot a small figure so much like hers.

The moon caught the figures hair as she jumped reveling long gray pigtails for a second. Then the other girl hit the ground much as Vivio had and sped after her, disappearing into the woods in silent pursuit.

From his vantage point at the window Gilgamesh watched the two girls running towards the city with his hawk like eyes. He gave a small chuckled and then disappeared in a glimmer of gold.

Tonight would be an eventful night.

*Scene *

_Author notes: (_PLEASE, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT READ AUTHOR NOTES PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM AND READ THE NOTICE THERE. IMPORTANT)

_Alrighty. Well it has been a LONG time. For that I apologize. The delay was due to real life, laziness and reading other works. I am back now, though and the next chapter should be up within a reasonable span of time. _

_So, for this chapter a few details. _

_When Vivio says that Magic is hundreds of years old it is referring to Mid Childa style magic. I know Magecraft is much older._

_A note on Vivios fighting skills. I know its pretty ridiculous that a 12 year old can learn magic space kung fu to the point where she is better than many masters, but its cannon. For those of you who have not read the Manga, I'm not making any of this up. Whether or not you find this stupid, cool or just hilarious as of Vivid the little girl who got kidnapped by Jail is now a magic space kung fu master. _

_As for the near hypnotic effect that Gilgamesh possesses, that is A+ rank Charisma at work. One of the many benefits of being more god than mortal. As for why he can do things like reach though barriers and such that is his anti magic field that he had due to all his anti magic trinkets he has stockpiled. For both those Gilgamesh scenes I studied the parts of Fate Zero where he interacts with Kerei carefully. I hope he came off as in character. _

_So so so! Here we are. Gilgamesh has taken his own speacl kind of interest in the daughter of the White Devil. Lets see where this goes shall we? _

_Once again in case there is any confusion, Olivie looks pretty much exactly like Saber. They literally used the same character design and then made her a little more cute and slapped some different clothes on her. _

_Now for the more action minded of you we have the upcoming showdown between the Servants and Riot force 6 minus Fate. Dare I say this is what you have all been waiting for the moment you first read chapter one? _

_Well, it should be up soon unless something weird happens. Those you you who have complained about my slow pacing need worry no longer. The storm is here. _

_Well, a lot to look forward to then. Lots of action coming up. The next Chapter should be out quite soon. _

IMPORTANT STORY NOTE, PLEASE READ: (Please respond to this in private messages, not reviews.)

Alright, well this story has come a long way. When I started this I was a brand new writer. I am still brand new in one sense but at least I am less brand new than I was. :)

In any case now that I am back from my break in writing I will be doing something that I have meant to do for a long time but never got around to. This story will still be moving forward but at the same time it will be moving backwards as well. That is to say I am going to do some major editing. Looking back this story is of much lower quality than I envisioned when I first started.

I guess it is inevitable that my first story would become something of a crash course but now that I have a little more experience I would like to repair. I am really attached to the idea of this story and I plan for it to go a long way as well as be a foundation for other story's.

As of now (Immediately after this chapter) I will be cutting out parts I don't like, adding in new ones and in general going fic remodeling. Bad research and details based on such will be retconed. Depending on how radical I get whole characters may be scraped or changed in important ways.

I know this may come as something of an outrage, especially considering how long this fic is and how much of a hassle it will be to re read some parts but like I said before, if I have my way we are still near the beginning of the story and so it is much better to do major editing now rather than latter when the story is even MORE established.

Another thing is the length. For how far we are into the story I think this fic is much to long. When I get done it should be shorter and more focused. Perhaps a lot shorter depending on how much I decide to change.

For now I have not entirely made up my mind as to exactly how much I am going to alter it.

I am going to post a poll on my profile. Minor vs Major change. If you want me to change a lot or a little. Please vote but the final decision may go either way.

I will be posting alerts of which chapters I have altered in the notes of the new chapters.

Rather than a note declaring this fics death (I know some of you at least have been thinking it, written myself into a corner indeed! Preposterous! Harrumph!) This is a note declaring its rebirth and evolution. A note I hope I can follow up on.

Secondly a more radical option. I am also seriously considering republishing this story under another name, as most people have read the first chapter and lost interest and would probably not be interested in re reading even if I posted a note in the summary saying the sotry had been edited.

What do you think of this? (once again please send this in a private message rather than a review.)

Thank you.


	14. Chapter 14 War

Ch 14: War

The blades of the helicopters beat out a steady drone over the city as the Riot Force six helicopters closed in on their destination. Moving faster than any helicopters on earth the large airborne troop carriers of the TSAB had taken only around ten minutes to reach the assaulted warehouse from the Long Arch. Adjusting the direction of his choppers blades, the pilot curbed his machines speed and brought it to a hoover on the other side of the street from their destination.

The bay door opened with a 'whoosh' and Subaru shoot from the inside like a ball from a cannon.

The blue haired cyborg hit the ground with one skate held at an angle using her momentum from her drop to shoot forward and wind up in a graceful crouch.

Behind her, landing with the same practiced efficiency Teana dropped to the ground behind her, her gun like devise out and ready. Subaru could not hold back a smile. Even after all these years they had not lost their synchronization. The thought made her heart flutter.

The sound of Vita dropping lightly from the sky beside her turned her mind back to the case instantly.

"Stars squad in position." Teana called in speaking quickly through her telecam.

"Good." Hayate's voice came. Stars 1 is in between you and Lightning squad facing the warehouse. "Lightning are you standing by?"

"Ready." Signums voice came.

"Stars, advance quickly but with caution. Reports from the building security are garbled, the personal most likely in shock. Contact with the aggressors seems to have had broken off for now, but whatever the aggressors brought it almost certainly possesses great firepower."

Subaru nodded and moved forward, crossing the street with a few skates while Teana followed, Vita taking to the air and moving towards the building in a lazy ark. Subaru spared a glance up at the small Cloud Knight. Vita was in one of her moods tonight. She had obviously been waiting for them to let her out on the streets for a while now and during the wait in the helicopter Subaru had been able to feel it. Unlike the others (Even Signum) who had all been happy at the reunion, Vita had said very little, forgoing even her grumpy outbursts in favor of sitting of to the side and sullenly fingering her warhammer. It was a state in which even as her friend Subaru could not find her as anything but unpleasant. It meant bad news. Especially for whoever they were about to apprehend.

Reaching the other side of the street they paused. The plan was to send in Vita and the Star Forwards first. The team, set with two Mages extremely difficult to put down and backed up by Teana's firepower would set off any potential traps. If the trap was sprung Lighting squad consisting of Signum, Caro and Erio would sweep in and turn the tables. The whole group would be watched over by Nanoha from the far back.

With this plan in mind they reached the warehouse front and got their first good look at the damage.

"Looks like they bombed the place." Subaru muttered.

The whole front of the facility had been torn wide open by something big. What had once been an official looking building front had had a huge chunk taken out of the structure, the wall reduced to shattered concrete and twisted steel with strange gashes scored in the ground all around.

"Keh!"Vita looked at it with something like satisfaction. "I think we found the culprit for that gooey murder."

"Enter but proceed with extreme caution." Hayate broadcast. "Remember that there are still a lot of security forces inside."

"Roger."

"Hold on." The voice that came over the telecam was not Hayate's but Nanoha's. "Control... I have a contact... it's one of the suspects."

*Scene *

When the Forwards had disembarked from their helicopters to begin their approach of the building Nanoha had flown around and back to gain a better view of the whole warehouse and the potential impending battle as well.

Getting some distance up from the ground she had watched the two squads take their positions. The spacing was good. With the way the Warehouse was set up there was virtually no way to flank both of the squads at once unless the enemy came from directly behind. A move that was impossible for enemy's inside the warehouse.

While the Stars Forwards had advanced she cast her gaze around looking for any developments. As far as she could tell the warehouse was quiet but their was a lingering sense of shock in the air as if the attack had been raging intensely just before they arrived.

Still looking around for any possible traps she turned away from the light portion of the street and scanned over the shadows that lined the far side of the road opposite from the warehouse front.

Raising Heart gave a beep. It had detected something. Narrowing her eyes she focused in on the area her visual indicators were signaling towards.

There, about sixty yards from where the Stars forwards had landed, partiality hidden by the side of a building and a dark streetlight were two figures. She recognized both immediately. One was a tall woman dressed mostly in a white maid like outfit, the other was a little girl. Both had skin and hair that was pale as the mood and bright ruby red eyes. They certainly weren't here by chance. If nothing else then the enormous halberd the older woman had thrown over her shoulder was proof of that. Nanoha bit the inside of her lip softly. Why was it always little girls?

"Enter but proceed with caution. Remember that there are still a lot of security forces inside.

"Roger."

"Hold on." Nanoha broke in over the communications. "Control... I have a contact... its two of the suspects."

"Hold your positions." Hayate ordered quickly. "Star 1 what is the contact?"

"Subjects are a little girl and an older woman, both appear albino, one is armed. They're the suspects from the school incident I'm sure of it."

There was a small pause on the other end. Undoubtedly Hayate already had a summary of the little girl and her bodyguards in front of her and Nanoha felt a bit of a sinking feeling as she realized what that summary would undoubtedly read: Evidence of high magical skill, emotionally unstable.

She knew what was flashing through Hayate's mind as she saw that profile. Probably herself all those years ago. Whatever did flash through her mind though Hayate did not dwell on it long.

"Roger that Stars 1 proceed down and apprehend the suspect. Lighting 2" She said calling to Signum. "Break off and assume Star 1's position, all other units hold your positions."

Nanoha nodded and turned her eyes back to her teammates figures below. With a whoosh Signum appeared beside her, the Knight turning her gaze down towards the two suspects.

"This again?"

Nanoha knew what she was referring to immediately. Really, all the times they had wound up confronting little girls in need of help was getting out of hand.

Nanoha nodded. "It seems so. Look, I know that we need to apprehend the subject as quickly as possible but-"

"Nanoha." Signum cut in still looking down at the two figures below. "Go save her. No child involved in something like this can need anything but rescue. I know my Mistress wants you to do it."

Nahoha's face lit up in a bright smile and without another word she dropped, turning into sharp dive to the ground below heading straight for the two.

Nanoha alighted in front of them with a graceful tap. The two nearly shouted in surprise at the sight of her apparently not expecting any sort of intrusion from above. Sure enough, though there had never been any doubt for her, it was the exact same two from the school. Instead of the horribly mismatched casual clothes that she had been wearing when they first met Mahail was now dressed in a white, rather Victorian looking jacket that emphasized her eyes and made her look rather like some sort of ghost. The maid was wearing the same outfit but the weapon was certainly new, an ornate halberd so oversized it bordered on ridiculous looking.

It was not any of this however that first drew Nanoha's eye. The first thing she noticed was that Mahail was in pain. The tiny girl was bent over leaning against the wall panting softly. Her face was covered in sweat and as she looked up at Nanoha in astonishment she winced painfully.

Something very warm and very fierce within Nanoha's heart awoke at the sight of it.

"Who are you?" The older woman shouted, thrusting her Halberd forward into combat position and glaring coldly at her.

"Ah. Hello, I am Nanoha. I saw you standing here and I was wondering if you needed any help."

"Don't mess with me!" The shouted words came from Mahail. She was glaring at her with recognition and loathing and she drew herself up as best she could, evidently still troubled by whatever fit she had been having.

"Your that Magi, that Vivio's mother. You're with the thieves. How many are you?" Mahail cast her eyes around nervously, looking back down the ally they were hiding in and then up at the night sky above. Signum however was out of her line of sight and she found no one else.

"I am not, as you say with any 'Thieves'." Nanoha said in a soothing voice. This was not good. Even before she flew down here she had known the girl was in some sort of tight spot, and she had not exactly expected her to be completely rational, but the obvious fear in her voice set Nanoha's nerves on end. The girl was terrified of something that was clear. Probably whoever had brought her into this situation had used fear as a motivator, in which case she probably believed she had no other choice but to do whatever it was she was doing.

"I am an agent of the TSAB." She said keeping her voice calm and earnest. "I came here to resolve this conflict as best as possible."

"Of course! You mean kill _me_!" Mahail snapped, her face twisted into a snarl.

"I am not here to kill or otherwise harm you Mahail." Nanoha's voice rung out strong and firm against the girls almost panicked jabber. "I am a peace keeper and I don't want you or anyone to get hurt. Mahail, tonight someone is attacking that building across the street and many people may have been hurt, is someone forcing you to do that?"

For a moment Mahails face relaxed, the use of her name seemed to touch something inside her however briefly, but the next moment the suspicious sneer was back stronger than ever. She wiped the sweat away from her face only for more to gather in an instant.

"Shut up! You're a liar, you're always lying to me. Everyone is..."

"Mahail I do not know who has been lying to you but I am not that person." Nanoha said her voice still strong

"Shut up!"

Mahail took in one more raged breath and then smiled, standing up and straightening in the process. She wiped the sweat from her face again and it didn't return this time.

"You're unlucky." She said in a new soft voice that was quite composed and almost musical. "You should have tried to kill me instead of talking so much. I'm all better now and ready to keep going, so your gonna die."

Nanoha gave a sad inward sigh. It seemed negotiations had failed. Whatever power or robot this girl was commanding she would have to beat down to make her point.

The girl giggled and threw back her head. "Ber-"

In that moment Raising Heart let out a shrill telepathic beeep. It was the warning for incoming projectiles.

Nanoha had gone expecting trouble or ambush of some sort, and she reacted in an instant throwing herself forward and weaving a barrier from her energy as fast as possible. She would have made it perfectly but Mahail's maid guard, interpreting her movement as an attack struck out at her with her Halberd at exactly the same time trying to cut her in half.

The weapon impacted against her energy shield in the precise moment when it was between formulation and completion throwing the whole structure off.

Then from the side, the projectile that Nanoha had been defending from struck her half formed shield with the force of an artillery shell.

The air around them exploded with force as the shield gave way. Nanoha was flung backward and she heard Mahail scream, thankfully one of fear rather than pain. The projectile had been meant for her and Nanoha's quick movement had caused her to turn away while the projectile had missed her barely and lost most of its power plowing through the dud shield. It impacted the wall of the ally instead of its intended target, sending up a thick cloud of brick dust and shrapnel which scored harmlessly against her barrier jacket.

"Nanoha! Nanoha!" Hayate called to her over the telecam.

"I'm okay. " She confirmed, springing to her feet and looking around. The dust was obscuring everything and though she could hear the Maid yelling she couldn't see what had became of Mahail. "Attack came from an unknown sniper! I repeat contacts did not engage."

"All right. Secure the suspects. Lightning 2, locate the sniper. All Forwards, seek cover and change your posi-."

Hayate broke off suddenly. Around the battlefield all of them paused and stood still and for a moment Nanoha even forgot about making sure Mahail was alright.

From somewhere inside the warehouse something let out a deafening roar. A long drawn out scream so inhuman and terrible that it could not have come from any man. With a crash all the windows on the street shattered at once as the shout kept going, rising and rising in a whirlwind of volume that forced the Forwards to clap their hands over their ears.

It stopped as suddenly as it came and from within the Warehouse there came a crash.

"What was that?" Hayate called over the telecam. "What was that noise?"

"Source... unidentified." Teana made out sounding out of breath over the communications system.

"I knew it." Vita's voice floated over the system strangely calm. "They have a monster."

The crash from inside the warehouse subsided but after it came a great rushing of something like wind. From the warehouse front some _thing_ emerged, invisible and terrible it flew out into the night carrying with it a nearly tangible feeling of wrath so heavy that for a moment Subaru thought it would crush her. It crossed the warehouse lot in an instant and headed straight for where the two contacts had been only moments before.

On the other side of the street Nanoha felt it coming straight at her with terrible speed and she turned one last time to see what had become of Mahail before shooting up into the air to evade it.

The small girl was being carried away by her Maid, the larger woman fleeing down the street with her charge at top speed while the shadow of malice that had come from the warehouse shot towards them. Nanoha felt her gut clench and for a second she thought they were about to be killed by something terrible. Nothing of the sort happened however, and the Maid kept running long after the invisible black cloud would have reached them at its pace.

"Control! This is Star 1, something invisible just passed by us, the contacts are escaping and we still have an unidentified sniper."

She blinked the moment the words were out of her mouth. Right, they still had an unidentified sniper and if she had just shot up into the air then...

As if on cue with her reasoning a storm of projectiles suddenly lashed out at her from the side. Coming from the same direction as the shot intended to kill the little girl a barrage of what she finally identified as arrows of some kind suddenly filled the air, coming towards her at the rapid fire pace nearly like a machine gun. She dropped, darting towards the ground as fast as she could but one of the projectiles caught her on the leg. It hit her barrier jacket like a sledgehammer and sent her reeling towards the ground out of control.

"Nanoha!"

It was her pride in her flying prowess that saved her from landing headfirst. Spiraling down towards the pavement out of control, the very idea of actually crashing sent a jolt of indignation through Nanoha so hard that she straightened herself immediately. She hadn't crashed since she was six years old, and tonight was not going to change that. Adjusting her thrust and pulling sharply up she changed her direction and transformed what would have been a nosedive into the pavement into an only somewhat awkward landing.

"I'm all right. Subaru, Teana take cover! Vita get down!"

Looking up she saw that Vita was now fending off the barrage of strange arrows herself. The little redhead was having a much better time of it than Nanoha had however. None of the lightning quick silver energy arrows were getting through the red shield polygonal she had erected yet and Vita was standing behind it looking around for the shooter with a face that would have scared small children.

After taking what must have been the fifteenth arrow in a row however the barrier cracked and Vita dived out of the line of fire with a curse, landing next to Nanoha.

"Lets go!" The two of them ziped away as the barrage followed them, the ground behind their feet exploding as Arrows rained down from above.

The small hammer wielder did not stop swearing till they had dropped behind an outcropping of rubble from the warehouse front and the barrage had stopped. "You alright Nanoha? I swear I'm going to tear that cowards head off!"

"I'm alright, hit my Barrier jacket pretty hard though." She thought about complementing their aggressors firepower but the thought of the arrow aimed at Mahail killed any idea of paying the sniper any respect. She felt a cold anger well up inside her. This, more than likely were the real culprits behind all this. Whoever could shoot a little girl without even so much as a barrier jacket on was a person who would do anything.

Another thought his her suddenly. More than simply being cohered, Mahail was now also the target of these people. Why? Just for talking to her?

"Control. This is Star 1. We are pinned down. The sniper is quite strong, how long till Lighting 2 locates?"

"This is Lighting 2." Signum called over the telecam. "The sniper appears to farther away than I estimated, I have yet to pinpoint him."

"Stars 2 and 4." Hayate called addressing Vita and Subaru. "Pursue the original suspects. If they resist subdue them by any means, but protect their lives. Here are their coordinates, we will update you if they change direction. Reports from inside the warehouse state that the aggressors have not reemerged. Whatever they were using to attack has probably left with them so expect a summoned monster."

"Understood." Subaru shouted. With a flick of her skates she shot back across the lot heading for the ally they had disappeared down.

"Save me a piece of that arrow bastard." Vita grunted as she took off and sped after Subaru flying a few feet off the ground.

"Alright, Starts 2 and 4 are away." Hayate came. "Stars 1, the sniper in focused on Lightning 2 right now. Take to the air again and see if you can draw his fire or locate him. Lighting 4 and 3 stand by beneath Star 1. Star 3, go into the warehouse. Engaged any renaming hostiles and assess the damage."

"Hii!"

Nanoha walked out from behind her pile of rubble and gestured over to Erio and Caro's hiding place. Beside her Teana moved from behind the wall she had taken cover with and looked over to Nanoha who nodded. Signum and Nanoha would flush out the sniper while Teana would assess the situation inside and Erio and Caro would be in a position to aid both.

Spiting her device into two units and adding bayonets Teana ran inside and out of sight. Nanoha gazed after her for a little. That girl would be fine. After all she was not the same high strung person who had originaly came to them. Even though her specialty was long distance engagement she could handle nearly anything she came across besides.

No, the most worrisome thing right now was that sniper. Nanoha rose up into the sky gently so as not to attract undue attention and looked out on the cityscape all around her. She could make out the figure of Signum far in the distance, the General of the Blazing sun was a tiny dot flying in complicated loops, diving and wheeling through the air to evade a storm of silver slivers that was coming from an indistinct point on the ground.

Nanoha caught herself marveling at the skill of the sniper. Even with a good scope and triangulation device hitting someone from so far away would be extraordinarily difficult, even more so with something as small as an arrow of energy. If these terrorists had someone like this working for them then she shuttered to think what other resources they might have.

Suddenly Signum's distant dancing figure moved strangely. An immensely long thin whip like filament stretched out from her and raked the ground in a long line. The barrage of arrows stopped.

"This is Lighting 2. The sniper has been silenced."

"Good Lighting 2." Hayate said. "Retrieve the criminal and reunite at the warehouse."

"I'm sorry control, my opponent has been buried in ruble, retrieval could take a little."

Hayate paused. A delay could mean a lot however... the two first suspects had retreated and from the still rather garbled reports from inside the Warehouse the attacker had gone to. That left only the Sniper who had been eliminated. Was it possible that they were done here? It could not be assumed until Teana confirmed the enemy's had left the Warehouse but in the meantime leaving an enemy as dangerous as the sniper unsecured could be just as fatal a mistake.

"Secure the criminal."

"Roger."

Nanoha watched Signum land in the far distance with anxious eyes. Maybe... just maybe this was the end of it. The mystery sniper was down, Vita and Subaru would defeat whatever monster it was Mahail seemed to be controlling and Teana would confirm that there were no more enemy's. The masterminds would be exposed, the missing children recovered and Mahail put into rehabilitation with full support and attention.

But somehow Nanoha didn't think so. Despite all appearances she sensed that this night was far from over.

*Scene *

_Some minutes ago_

A few blocks away from the besieged warehouse Rin, Archer, Bazett and Lancer stood on one of the innumerable roofs in the city looking towards the sight of destruction. It had taken some time to round up Lancer and Bazett and because of their difference in position it was only natural that they would arrive after Mahail did.

The small homunculus had already begun her assault by the time they got there though she seemed to be laying low now for some reason.

It was here that the four allies had fallen into a seriously divided opinion for the first time. Both Lancer and Bazett wanted to attack Berserker and try to draw him into a crossfire between the Servants Noble Phantasm's and the two Masters magecraft. With Rin's jewels and Bazett's secret weapon both Master and Servant felt that it could be done.

Archer however had been adamant against this, advocating a simple game of luring Berserker away and then shooting the Master. Rin meanwhile argued against killing Berserker at all. The death of so powerful a Servant she felt, would weaken them all when the time came to fight the TSAB.

Their discussion over what to do had been cut short by the arrival of helicopters.

"I think, Master." Archer said. "That the time for fighting the TSAB may have just come upon us."

"Ah no. Those poor people." Rin muttered quietly gazing off towards what was most probably about to become a slaughter.

"They knew the risks of entering the battle field." Archer replied simply.

"Right." Lancer interjected. "It is useless to grieve over enemy warriors on the night before their destruction."

"Rin!" Bazett snapped. "We need to advance as quickly as possible."

"What? And get closer to a battle we could get drawn into?"

"If we don't get there soon and locate whatever it is that drew Berserker the area will become crawling with TSAB agents in no time. We need to move before that happens."

"Right." Rin looked out. Far into the distance she could just make out the helicopters pulling back. This would be only the first wave, as inexperienced as she was with governments, she knew enough to realize that the TSAB would not just stop if the first squad they sent in got massacred. More would come, and then more. In the end they would seal off the whole area. Right now speed was everything.

"Archer... I want you to circle around. Get far away and then strike. From your distance Berserker will take a long time to find you. When he comes dematerialize and make your way back to us."

"And the Magi agents?"

Rin thought for a moment. The TSAB _was _likely to try and confront them. And with enough Magi.."

They are our enemy's."

"Understood Master."

With a glimmer of red Archer faded away like mist blown by a strong wind. Rin closed her eyes. It took a few minutes for Archer to stake out what he felt to be a goo position and reform his body, but when he did Rin's perspective changed.

Seventeen years ago Rin had been a powerful but still inexperienced Magus. Thus in the time of the 5th Grail war her Magical ability had not yet seen many of the benefits that came with long training. That however was seventeen years ago. Seventeen years that she had spent honing her craft in the Mage's Association. In that time she had picked up many valuable ability's that were proper for a skilled Magus to have.

The art of Shared Perception was one such useful ability. Using only a simple prana connection it enabled a Magus to see and hear from the eyes and ears of the subject. For a Master of Archer who possesses enhanced senses to boot this is extremely advantageous. In addition to the pragmatic Archer the ability was nothing but useful and so the last hurdle, the requirement for the subject to consent to the shared perception, was cleared without difficulty. In addition to this her proficiency in long range voice projection now allowed her to communicate freely with Archer from a long ways off. It was a luxury that she would have killed for in the 5th war.

So it was that Rin found herself looking through the eyes of Archer.

The difference of perception was so staggering that for a moment she felt overwhelmed. Before her lay the whole city carved out in perfect detail to Archers eyes. From where he stood miles and miles away from them he could see the warehouse better than they could from four blocks away.

It was unbelievably surreal as Archers gaze shifted and caught them standing on the roof. She saw herself through his eyes and realized that her face was wearing an extremely stupid expression of awe.

She snapped her mouth closed and watched as the Rin she was looking at did the same. She heard Archer chuckle and went slightly red with irritation. Archers gaze shifted from them over to the Warehouse. Miles away from it he could make out the figures running around on the ground moving towards the building.

Archer observed for a little more, his eyes surveying the scene with great precision when he stopped. There standing in the shadows and doubled over as if she was in pain was Mahail.

"Rin... I have a clear shot from here." Archers voice floated to her from across the space separating them thanks to her sorcery. It was cold as ice.

Rin blinked. She had wanted to let Mahail live to preserve the balance of power. And also to find out what that strange homunculus was all about but now that the opportunity for a quick resolution presented itself she could only seem to painfully recall the screaming terror that had been Berserker in the last war. Wasn't it that very servant who had killed Archer back then?

She hesitated feeling torn up inside. It wasn't as if she had not come to know Illya to... But if that really was simply an imitation then the two had no connection. It was only a doll. Surely...

"Archer... take the... shot."

She felt her Servant nod n confirmation, and next to her Lancer gave a contemptuous snort of derision.

Before her eyes a bow materialized in Archers hands and he drew it back, a silvery outline of an arrow flickering into existence. From his vantage point and with his great skill there was no way he would miss.

A sudden scene interrupted them though and the killing hands paused in drawing the bow back. Through Archers eyes she watched as a new development took place. Strangely enough one of the TSAB agents was descending towards Mahail. It was a woman clutching a staff clad nearly completely in white with auburn hair. From her position in the sky she floated downwards with a pleasant expression on her face landing right in front of Mahail and the other Homunculus.

"Master?"

"Hold on." Rin ordered. "Wait and see what's going on."

The to spoke for a while, the woman calm all the time while Mahail grew more and more animated.

"I think she's trying to talk her down." Rin commented with surprise. She had not expected something like this. Ordinarily in a criminal situation an agent would simply order the two to surrender. Negotiation was used when the suspect had some sort of leverage. Granted Mahail had a LOT of leverage, but the TSAB could not have known that. This lady was weird.

The negotiations did not last however. Whatever it was that the woman in white said it apparently did not sit to well with Mahail's philosophy on life in general. With an evil expression growing no her face Mahail drew herself up. There was no mistaking the killing intent in that expression.

"Archer!"

Drawing the bow back in a instant Archer loosed his prana arrow. It flew straight in a long arc over the city, the great distance it had to cross creating a delay in even Archers magical bow.

Rin felt a great weight of something a bit like guilt fall on her. The arrow was in motion. Archers aim was true. Mahail was dead without even a chance to explain herself or give meaning to her own existence.

Rin's introspection was cut off abruptly when the woman in white suddenly looked to the side- straight in the direction that the arrow was coming from. What was she-

With great speed the woman jumped. Archer tensed sensing some trick when from thin air around the woman's hands a dome of luminous energy expanded covering her and Mahail under its strange light. Mahails homunculus maid took a swing at the woman and the next moment the arrow struck. There was an explosion and the following cloud of dust obscured everything.

"Damn." Archers irritated sounding voice floated over. "I have lost sight of the target."

"I can see that baka!"

"Oy whats going on over there?" Lancer cut in watching the explosion with distaste.

They all stopped when suddenly the air was filled with a terrible noise. It was one Rin recognized instantly and it brought her back seventeen years into the past. The outpouring of Berserker's rage.

"Seems someone's upset with your Archer lady." Lancer drawled after the roaring had stopped. "What an intimidating guy..."

"Master." Archers voice came in with a touch of urgency. "Mahail is gone. I think she has retreated. As far as I can tall Berserker has gone with her."

"S-So! Mahail is retreating." She explained to her two other companions.

"Good." Bazett said. "We can move in then. Tell your Archer to shoot the Magi."

Archer however did not need to be told. The woman in white had flown upward into the sky suddenly after the attack. It was a poor move on her part. Archers arms drew back the bow once more and loosed. Not once or twice but dozens of times, his long arms working at an impossible pace drawing and releasing arrows at a pace like a automatic rifle.

Rin watched impassively as the woman in white realized her mistake and tried to dodge only to be picked out of the air under Archers aim. Surprisingly enough she did not die or even crash, but saved herself at the last moment with a quick maneuver that Rin didn't catch. Her leg where she had been struck was still intact.

She felt herself stiffen at the Mages had to have some great power to be able to survive a hit from a Servant without injury. Remembering what she had picked up on "barrier jackets" she growled. Fighting TSAB Magi was going to be troublesome, especially if it came to a Master on Mage battle.

Watching as Archer continued his barrage on another one of the Magi, this one hiding behind a large red shield, Rin opened her eyes and cut of the Shared Perception.

"So? What is going on?" Bazett asked looking at her curiously. Rin figured with a feeling of embarrassment that her face must have just run the complete gauntlet of expressions while she was looking through Archers eyes. She shoved her embarrassment away with her more comfortable emotion. Irritation.

"Mahail got out of there, there are still a bunch of TSAB agents though, their shields appear to be strong enough to hold out against Archers attacks.

"Oy oy oy. That's why you don't fool around with pesky arrows." Lancer said with something like satisfaction in his voice. "Am I going to make my introduction with you lady's?"

"Right Lancer." Bazett said adjusting her gloves. For a moment Rin could make out the runes inscribed upon them shining with star like intensity. "Lets go. We will give Archer a little more time to break them up and then we move before more come in."

Rin nodded. A simple plan. With the situation what it was it would have to work. She closed her eyes momentarily and focused on the feel of the prana in the air around her, just waiting for her circuits to convert. With the mental image of a dagger stabbing into her heart her body began to fill with power which she used to reinforce her legs.

With hop she jumped of the roof into the street below, followed closely by her two allies.

*Scene *

With a final shot from his bow Archer stopped and surveyed the damage he had inflicted on the enemy Magi. Barely any. So far his arrows had yet to claim a single life. These Magi were appearing to be quite troublesome. The Barrier Jacket's Rin had spoken of had successfully deflected one of his prana arrows, magical projections that struck harder than an artillery shell without injury to the wearer.

Even worse than this the magi he had just chased behind a pile or ruble had been able to create a barrier that had deflected his shots for a full nine seconds. It was the kind of thing that he would expect from a powerful bounded field that had taken weeks to create and here it had been constructed in seconds. Caster herself would have been impressed.

Strangely enough said Magi was also a little girl... and carrying a sizable warhammer... was she a homunculus to?

It was a question for a latter date. His eyes were still surveying the lot when he noticed her. A lone Magi in the air above flying towards him. He realized with a disturbing jolt that she was coming on very fast... Archers eyes widened. The Magi he was looking at was dressed in a strange _pink_ outfit that resembled armor with matching hair. She was carrying a sword. And flying at a speed that he would never have believed a human could accomplish.

The strange pink warrior was coming on at a speed that would outpace most Servants following along on the ground. _Impossible_...

Narrowing his eyes once more Archer bent his bow again. At that pace he had less than two minutes before she was on top of him. Angling his bow upward so that he almost perfectly resembled the Archer symbol on those stupid cards that the old Grail supervisors had insisted on carrying around, Archer let fly at his new target. He loosed one arrow and then brought his hand back to create another so fast that the air around his feet stirred.

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty arrows sped out to clip his targets wings in a second and his rhythm continued: twenty five, thirty, thirty five, forty-

Flying out into the night towards the last estimated position of the sniper Signum scanned the city before her. The attacker was ruthless, she had seen the shot launched and had known enough to tell that it had been meant for the little girl. This was almost just like fourteen years ago and the thought made her blood quietly begin to boil. It sung for the defeat of this adversary.

Now if she could just find him this would be easy. As it was however the sniper was probably already in the act of leaving. Any criminal who was this serious would know about Nanoha and the Wolkenritter and the number of criminals who had the nerve to try and fight her head on was extraordinary small. Especially for snipers.

"Eh, what do you think Signum? This one gona up and run?" The small snide voice asking the question was coming from over her left shoulder. There Agito was perched lazily the tiny unison device sounding exited. It had been a bit since they had had action like this.

"Probably."

"Hen! I think- Whooh..." Agito broke off.

Signum saw the barrage of silver arrows reach out towards her from a great distance and she adjusted her opinion. This one had nerve. And skill judging from the number of energy arrows that they were pumping towards her face.

Turning sharply downwards Signum flew under the first wave and pressed on following the direction of the shots to their origin. The shear number of arrows in such a short amount of time made her wonder if there were not two snipers working together.

The mysterious archer followed her dive with expert precision, and when he adjusted to predict her flight path she had to change course again.

The arrows followed again. Whichever way she turned it would take only a few moments for the shooter to adjust his aim. Even more than that though he not only adjusted his aim to her new direction but correctly timed his shots so that they would reach the place she was going to be.

Signum found to her frustration that in order to stay clear of all shots she was having to weave back and forth, a maneuver which cut down her forward progress dramatically.

Something else also began to occur to her as he pipped and dived, falling hundreds of yards and then rising again like a eagle. Bow and arrow devises were extremely rare these days. Apart from herself she had not seen one for years and years. Whoever this was they were putting shots out at a pace she was not sure she could match herself.

Suddenly Signums anger became tempered with fascination. This was beyond a sniper. Like the blue spearman she found that her evaluation put this archer on another level than most modern marksmen. Another skilled warrior had appeared.

So, she would answer in kind.

Perhaps sensing the change in her mood Agito laughed and let out a small cheer.

Changing her direction once more Signum once again flew straight forward, pushing her speed to its max. When the arrows came this time she brandished her sword. Signum's arms became a whirlwind as she thrust her word forward slapping each and every arrow that came at her out of the air.

It was no easy task. The impact of the arrows sent jots of force up her arm that rattled her bones uncomfortably. Her progress however was once more uninterrupted.

On the rooftop below Archer narrowed his eyes again and sent his next volley with extreme vigor. His target was a wonderful flier and keeping up with her was pushing his skill past his limits. Unless the enemy grew tired it would take a lucky shot to catch her in the air, and if what he had seen with the last barrier jacket was true of this one then that would not be enough.

At least it was sending her out of her way though.

Archer was not sure what to make of it when the woman began to fly straight again. Surly she couldn't mean to... His mouth nearly dropped open. She was. The enemy was now using her sword to deflect all of his arrows... This was way beyond the level of any Magi. Archer realized with a certain feeling of dryness in his mouth that this woman could almost certainly kill him if he were not careful. This was not a battle between a Servant and a doomed human, but a battle between two entity's who could assuredly slay each other. He wondered briefly what she was.

It didn't matter. Definitely not human was the answer any way you worked it.

Sending his last shot he noted with frustration that she was now to close to use any of his more powerful weapons on her. All those arrows had been a waist of time and Prana.

He jumped off the roof of the skyscraper he was on and through the window of an adjacent one firing a few more arrows out of that. The different angle yielded no knew results. Never-mind. The goal now was to stall her and then escape in spirit form. He ran through the building he had entered and then jumped out from the other side of it falling thirty story's to the ground bellow.

She was right above him now looking down on him as he jumped. He could read her grim expression as she watched him and he felt a note of worry. The expression was not unlike Sabers.

Signum had finally sighted her target, a tall dark skinned man wearing a long red coat that fluttered in the breeze behind him as he shot at her with a great black longbow. He jumped of the roof when he saw her coming and she adjusted her flight to keep with his change of position. The man had realized that his tactics would not work on her and was now trying to flee as all range specialist must after losing there space.

She moved after him and deflected the two arrow that shot at her from the building. She was preparing to dive thought one of the other windows after him when he jumped again, this time falling all the way to the ground below. For a moment as he turned his head back in mid air there eyes met. She noted his cold gray eyes for a moment before he was gone. This guy had eyes of a killer.

Having now landed he was moving away from the skyscrapers and more towards the lower storefronts in the city bellow. He traveled along the ground now, running at an incredible pace towards the maze of smaller brick buildings that would give him better cover at close range.

Signum dived down after him but was again stalled by the arrows that he sent up to meet her. After a few more tries she gave up. That was fine, two could play the ranged game.

Pulling up slightly she watched as he reached the area he was headed for and disappeared behind one of the buildings only to come out on the roof a moment latter, his bow drawn.

"This is the TSAB surrender yourself and lay down your weapon!"

The mans only reply was another arrow before he jumped back into the ally bellow. All at once his shots started again. He was shooting them through the store roof at her and she was momentarily caught off guard by the hidden attack.

Well that was it. Communications had failed. Holding her sword out perpendicular from herself. "Schlangerform." Laevatein intoned and her sword uncoiled into its lethal whip.

Destroying the entire area he was hiding in took only a flick of her wrist, the long linked whip of her ancient sword device cleaving through the base materials of the building effortlessly and sending out a shock wave as it did so that leveled the two buildings next to it also. Signum flew in lower, hovering a few feet over the settling pile or ruble that was the archers last hiding place. There was no movement.

"Well that was fun." Agito chirped her voice full of cheer. "That guy was pretty good actually. You gona talk with him after we pick him up?"

"Perhaps." Signum said having already made up her mind to do so. From the look he had in his eyes she did not think that this one was going to be rehabilitated any time soon but in any case his skill was undeniable. Were it not her she had no doubt that perhaps dozens of Mages if not more would have been picked to pieces trying to apprehend him. And it was not everyday that two master archers got together to talk. In this age the use of bow devices was extremely limited, almost unheard of in fact.

"This is Lighting 2. The sniper has been silenced."

"Good Lighting 2. Retrieve the criminal and reunite at the warehouse."

"I'm sorry Control, my opponent has been buried in ruble, retrieval could take a little."

There was a brief pause on the other end before: "Secure the criminal."

"Roger." She answered. "Agito run a scan for vital signs, this man should still be alive."

"Right." She said closing her eyes and concentrating. After a second her smile faltered. "No vital signs detected."

Signums eyebrows rose in an arch. Had she killed him? If so then his Barrier Jacket must have been much weaker than she anticipated, something that was unlikely judging by how powerful his arrows had been... No it was more likely that he was using something to evade scans by Mages. For a sniper such a skill would be practical. In which case she would have to take more time to search... The situation that had been simple a few moments ago was now becoming dangerous again.

"Agito, I need you to clear this rubble away. Quickly."

The small sprite like girl on her shoulder sighed and lazily conjured a fireball with her hand.

Signum shot her a look and the small girl banished it sourly before flying over the area where the man should be buried under. Forming two shields at once she plunged them into the ruble below and began to use them like shovels, scooping out the debris and depositing it to her left. Signum watched impassively. This was going to take a little.

Unbeknownst to both of them Archer had fled the moment the building collapsed, his spirit shedding its physical form and rushing out into the night covering the ground between there and the warehouse at a pace that even Signum would have been hard pressed to match.

*Scene *

Out in front of the warehouse Erio and were gathered around Friedrich the dog sized dragon flying in slow circles around Caro's head growling every once in a while. Off in the distance from the direction Subaru and Vita had left they could hear sounds like explosions. Both of them knew what it was, the sound of a street being torn apart in a Mage battle.

Only a few moments before Nanoha had informed them that she was going back up to continue surveying the area. Even though they knew she was nearby something about her leaving had left a bad feeling in both of them and with only one warehouse light still intact the night felt distinctly oppressive to both of them.

"Friedrich, Friedrich..." Caro chimed softly offering her dragon a place to land on her shoulder. It continued to move in circles however and would not be calmed. Eventually Caro gave up and walked back over to Erio. The boy she admired was standing with his spear like device held in both hands looking out into the dark listening to the distant sounds of shattering concrete and explosive force.

"Erio." She said feeling nervous. "Shouldn't Subaru and Vita be back by now?"

"Can't say. The suspects must be giving them a hard time. They said they had some sort of minion."

"Friedrich is nervous." She said slowly. "I think there is someone else coming."

Erio gave her a worried look of his own and a silent communication passed between them. They had spent the last year working together on Surpools and both of them knew to trust the dragons instinct.

"Control." Erio said a telecam appearing in front of his face. "How long until rescue teams start to arrive."

"Rescue team are... still inbound... they should be there within the next few minutes. What's going on?"

"Nothing. We are holding position. Teana has not reported anything yet?"

"No. The building appears to be clear of hostiles. The last suspects still at large are still being pursued by Stars 2 and 4."

"... Roger." Erio said cutting out. There was nothing to be except stay there.

"Lighting 3!" the telecam suddenly reappeared before Erio making him start.

"Yes?"

"We have a visual reading, there are two unidentified Mages coming towards you... its'.. both are dressed in civilian clothes, no barrier jackets. Treat with caution."

Erio blinked at the picture showing up on the telecam before him. Running down a street, appearance approaching them were two women. Due to the speed they were running at both were obviously Mages yet neither of them had on anything resembling a barrier jacket or held any sort of device.

One was a dark haired woman in a red dress jacket and skirt while the other was dressed in a very sharp looking three piece suit that made Erio think with brief humor that she looked like a business woman who was very late for a meeting. Her hair was a strange shade of violet. Both had rather sharp faces which were set in frowns.

Caro blinked looking at the pair. "I wonder if they heard the fight and are coming here to try and help?"

Erio considered it. It was quite possible, after all, who would run in looking for a fight without even putting a barrier jacket on? "We might have to turn them away." He said doubtfully looking at the pair.

"Whatever you do don't let your guard down." Hayate commanded. "Under these circumstances you are to apprehend them as suspects whatever their story is."

"Understood." Erio promised. The telecam vanished and Caro gave him a worried look. "I hate having to hassle people if they're just trying to help."

"Well, we cant take any risks right now." Erio answered. In truth he did not like doing so either but he understood the need. More than that though he did not feel that the two were coming with an intent to help them.

"They will be coming from up there." He said gesturing towards the direction that had been posted on the telecam. "I guess our Friedrich was right.

"Right." Caro said smiling up at her pet and offering it her hand again. It would not land and Caro withdrew her hand with slightly diminished mood.

They stood facing the direction the two should come from in a moment when Friedrich suddenly became more agitated. Caro was reaching over to try and calm him again when Hayates voice shouted over the communications "Erio look out!"

Something hit the ground behind them with a light tap.

Erio whipped around as fast as he could jumping back slightly and bringing Strada up as quickly as possible.

Standing behind them was a man in rather form fitting blue leather armor with silver pauldrons. His face was rugged looking and his eyes a deep blood red while his mouth was set in an almost speculative frown.

"Identify yourself!"

"You know." The man said slowly like he was appraising a piece of fruit. "I would be a lot more surprised to see something like that here if you magi were not all so weird already."

"What are you talking about? Answer my question! Identify yourself or I will have to restrain you!"

"You don't see a dragon every day kid." He went on gesturing nonchalantly to Fried who was growling deeper than ever now. "In fact I don't think I've ever seen a dragon before."

"Erio! Be careful!" Hayate shouted over the cam. "That man is the one who defeated Subaru several days ago, he is highly dangerous!"

Erio took a step back and felt his pulse quicken while Caro let out a little "Ep!" He had watched the video recording of that fight as had all of them. The man in front of him was a ruthless killer almost as fast as he was and of greater skill with a spear if Signum's appraisal had been accurate. He tensed himself. If that was true then the only and best thing to do would be to overwhelm him as quickly as possible by going all out with his speed.

"You see" The man went on, apparently unaware that Erio was getting ready to spring on him. "Its stuff like that voice I'm talking about. I always heard about dragons but I never saw any, at the same time though I had never heard about things like that either." He pointed to the skyscrapers off in the distance. "So I guess that's why I'm not as surprised at seeing one as I thought I would be."

With a move like lightning Erio shot forward faster than the eye could follow, his magic enhanced limbs already focused on speed accelerated many times further by the spell Sonic Move. Closing in at a pace that he once used to catch bullets he prepared to sweep the mans feet out from under. Getting him in a police hold till Caro could bind him should be manageable after that.

In an instant he crossed the short space between them and- Erios vision exploded into stars. In a move that matched his own overwhelming pace the man's foot came up and across in a peculiar high kick that caught him in the head and sent him smashing into the ground so hard it rattled his teeth.

Caro screamed.

"Damn kid, your _fast_." The man said sounding impressed. "You shouldn't commit yourself to a move so much when you don't know how fast your enemy is though."

Freidrich snarled and leapt at the man, the little dragon determined to avenge its mistresses friend.

The man noted the tiny monster swooping down on him absently. Out of thin air a long blood red spear appeared suddenly in his hands and with a simple 'swish' he knocked the dragon out of the air.

"F-Freid!" Caro screamed gazing helplessly at her companions both now laying prone on the ground. Looking up quickly her panicked eyes found those of the stranger. He was frowning at her.

"Ouch, this is hard." He said giving her an uncomfortable look. "Look girl, I-"

"Loop Bind!" Nanoha's voice rung out from above. In a way similar to how his spear had appeared, at the magical command glowing bands of dark energy sprung into existence and wrapped themselves around the strangers body. He gave a bark of surprise and nearly stumbled but kept his feet at the last second.

"Caro!" It was Nanoha shouting at her from above, her foster mothers dearest friend had returned in the nick of time and was looking down on the bound man with anger in her eyes. "Put him out!"

Caro jerked her head back from looking at Nanoha. The blue clad man was swaying on his feet while he struggled against his bonds.

"Shooting ray!"

From her hand twin beams of energy lanced forward towards the man's chest, an ensured hit at close range that would hopefully knock him unconscious.

The energy bolts hit their target and the hope that had sprung up in her when Nanoha had swooped in fell suddenly.

As soon as they connected several things happened at the same time. First, rather than send the blue armored man over and blast him into unconsciousness the twin bolts that were her only real attack splashed and divided upon the mans chest like water, the energy failing as though it were encountering some sort of anti magic field very close to his body. In the same moment the bonds that held him began to suffer the same fate. With a shout of anger the blue fighter strained even harder against them and they came loose with a nose of fizzling power, his arms and legs springing free from their restraints.

The man stumbled, caught himself and then fixed Caro with a glare that made her blood run cold. He was free. Nanoha's bind had lasted only a few seconds on him.

The worst thing however was none of these. From the air around her Caro's ears picked up a strange sound. It was the sound of arrows whistling through the sky once more.

Above her in the air Nanoha who had been about to try and bind the spearman with something heavier once again flung herself out of the way with a shout of surprise as silver energy arrows shot out to impale her.

*Scene *

Down on the ground Erio stirred. He felt stunned. Even as his whole body was wracked with pain his limbs did not seem to want to work properly. Shaking his head he forced himself to get up on his hands and knees. He had just been kicked in the head very hard. Apart from that his chain of thinking was a bit fuzzy. Fighting off a wave of dizziness he pulled himself to his feet using his device as a crutch and looked around.

Awareness returned to him with a jolt. On the ground a little ways away from him lay Caro. She had been knocked unconscious and lain next to her small dragon. With a gasp he began to move over to her but voice cut him off.

"Your awake again?"

Turing quickly towards it found himself looking at the blue spearman once more. The man had his weapon out this time and the blood red spear seemed to make the air around it twist as he held it. Erio raised Strada again widening his step into a combat stance.

"I would be impressed by your recovery but you have that witch shield to pull your hide out of the water whenever you mess up. At least your a man though."

"Did you do that to Caro?" He demanded. A dozen things were racing through his mind now. Where was Nanoha? Was Caro alright? How was he going to defeat this guy?

"Aye." The spearman answered. "I cant abide killing women, much less a young girl like her. She is asleep for the moment. If you're her friend then know I've done no serious harm to her."

Erio bristled at the mans admittance. Any sense of gratitude that the man seemed to be expecting was completely absent from his mind. The only fact that mattered was that the blue clad spearman had attacked Caro.

Keeping his fighting stance up he took a few more steps back and risked taking his eyes off his enemy to look around. Not far from him were the two women that he had seen coming on the report. Both were huddled together not so far away speaking in low tones as if arguing about something.

More importantly than that however was the battle taking place above them. Far over on the other side of the street Nanoha was standing in mid air with two shields projected in front of her while she rained showers of magical destruction down on the buildings below.

The sniper it seemed was back with a vengeance and even as she was dishing out enough firepower to scrap a military convoy a steady rapid fire barrage of energy arrows was flying up at her from the ground bellow, picking at her shields and forcing her to dodge from time to time.

The two women were looking up at her with worried expressions and she seemed to be a central part of their argument.

Whatever that was for Erio it meant only one thing. Nanoha had her own fight. It was just him and the spearman now... and those two Mages who would probably attack him from behind once he started fighting. Erio felt his hands griping his spear start to sweat slightly. How had the situation deteriorated this fast?

"Erio! Erio are you there?" Hayate's voice came to him through the com system. "Listen, Signum is on her way, just hold out until then!"

"Roger." He breathed back.

"Hey now, lets not lose sight of why we're here." The spearman called, shooting towards him and jabbing at his chest. Erio deflected the incoming spear tip with his own and jumped back again.

"Your reactions aren't bad kid." The red eyed man said pacing back and forth in front of him in a relaxed manner. "Do you know how to use that spear though?"

The man leapt at him again and unleashed a barrage of lighting quick jabs at him the red spear moving in and out so fast that to any ordinary onlooker it would have been a blur. Grinding his teeth together Erio moved his own shorter spear in response, his eyes tracking each strike as best as he could, his arms moving to intercept them. It was a wild flurry of movement but he successfully blocked each one and then launched his own strike back. His return fell far short of its target, the blue Mage's much longer spear swatting his tip out of the air before he came within three feet of him.

"Not baaaad." The man smiled.

"Lancer! Stop messing around!"The shouted command came from one of the women off to the side, the dark haired one in the red jacket.

"Don't talk to me like your my Master lady."The man, evidently called Lancer replied dryly.

"Lancer, that's enough, finish him off." The second woman spoke up in a quieter more authoritative tone. "I am going into Warehouse, follow me once your done securing the area." With that the woman in the three piece suite ran past them and into the building.

"Well then kid." Lancer said, the smile gone out of his expression. "That's it."

Just before he finished talking Erio jumped backwards. Sure enough as he had expected Lancer had chosen to strike the second after he finished talking. So it was that Erio evaded the incoming spear that would have impaled him through the heart by acting first.

Landing a ways away he then shot forward using sonic move again, aiming to dive over Lancers still extended spear point and stab him through the chest while in mid air.

But Lancer was already moving. Meeting his charge head on he brought his much longer spear forward and thrust it out at him forcing him to abandon his plan and swerve to the left. To slow. The spear raked along his side as he dodged scoring up against his barrier jacket and knocking him off his feet.

Most fights would have ended there with the knock down quickly followed up by impaled by the successful opponent. Erio was now in battle mode however, and his long training in close combat paid off in that moment.

Using the momentum granted to him by his fall Erio spun back and turned his stumble into a backwards role that took him out of range of Lancer blade and brought him upright again in one smooth move.

"Ha! Nice kid! I remember the first time I did that." Lancer said with joviality in his voice. "But how were you planing to reach me when your spear is so short?"

Erio glanced down at his device Strada briefly. With a jolt he realized that Lancer was right. He had never really fought other spear users before exept in traning, and they were all about the same length as his. For a weapon that relied on possessing longer reach than your enemy he was in bad position. Even disregarding skill and speed Strada was nearly only half as long as Lancers own device.

"Your weapon is not going to be much use against me if you cant even reach me with it. To get near me with that you'd have to be faster than me and that-"

Lancer blurred suddenly. To any other person it would have looked like he had disappeared. As it was even to Erio Lancer was now indistinct, shooting forward again at a pace much faster than any before. Erios heart skipped a beat. The only other people he had ever seen move that fast were Signum and his own mother. It was the speed that they used when serious.

"Is not possible." Lancer finished, completing his last strike.

To anyone else that would have been the end. Erio had in fact seen many a fight and spar end in exactly the same way, with one fell blow at a speed so great it eliminated the enemy without a chance of resistance.

Thankfully his foster mother had spent hours and hours training him against such move.

Pushing his body and magical power to the max Erio poured on the acceleration. Hurtling to the side he evaded the overwhelming blow successfully and kept his feet pivoting on his ankles and swinging Strada in a arch over his shoulders in a move that made Lancer duck.

This time it was Lancer who jumped back, distancing himself with a light hop.

Erio breathed in heavily and thrust Strada out again in challenge. He could do this, it would take every ounce of everything he had, but he could do this. If he defeated this man or hold him till Signum arrived or Nanoha bested her opponent then all would be well. The incident could end tonight.

The thought sent a thrill through him. His heart, previously beating at the frantic pace of a fleeing animal slowed down and became a rhythmic pounding. The key to this fight was not speed. The key was taking it slow and simply focusing on holding him off.

Lancer tilted his head slightly looking at him with mild surprise at his successful evasion of what had been supposed to end the duel.

"Huh." Lancer shrugged and then leveled his weapon again.

The next dash came as the same pace as the last and once again Erio dodged it. Instead of backing off however Lancer did not stop for a second but only kept coming at the same pace making Erio nervous again. He was not sure how long he could keep this up. There was no time to cast spells, or even focus on gathering mana like this.

The next few strikes were dodged likewise but the fifth Erio was forced to block. The blow coming up from above slammed down onto the shaft of his spear that he had held up to block it and Erio gave a gasp.

The blow sent a wave of shock jolting down his whole body making his knees buckle. The man was strong. To strong. It was something he had not counted on. The next strike came before he had time to readjust himself and sent him to his knees. Lancer was not stabbing anymore but simply using his spear as a staff to pound him into submission without ceremony. The next one came just as fast and sent Strada flying from his grip and struck him hard on the shoulder. Then before he knew it Erio was lying on the ground with the tip of a spear thrust in his face. He had lasted only a few seconds.

There was a crack, followed by a voice yelling "Stop!"

Erio and Lancer both stopped and looked, the victor turning around while the defeated simply looked over his shoulder. Standing a few yards behind them, and having landed so hard that she had cracked the pavement under her Signum was standing a fierce glare in her eyes, her sword held out pointed straight at Lancers head.

Lancer blinked and took in the newcomer, giving her a rather unsubtle once over.

"That boy is my disciple, I charge you on the honor of a Knight to spare him."

Lancer stilled for a moment before lighting up."Oh? Your a knight are you?" He said twirling his lance around a little before setting its butt on the ground with a 'clunk'. "I didn't know they had any around here."

"Indeed. I am Signum of the Wolkenritter from Ancient Belka."

Lancer clicked his tough. "Cant say I have ever heard of them. I can't give you my name you understand, I'll introduce myself as a member of the once great Knights of the Red Branch. Call me Lancer."

Something in Signums expression shifted. "You are a Knight? I see. Tell me, you are not from this time period are you?"

On the ground behind him Erio blinked. What?

Lancer clicked his tongue. "Good guess lady. How did you know?"

"Your weapon, and your fighting style and your intent are unlike anything that belongs in this time, clearly you have trained in the art of melee since childhood. If you are asking for what convinced me however call it a hunch. You are not the only one running around who should be gone in this present time."

Lancer narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm sorry." Signum continued. "But I cannot stand and talk while my friends life is in danger. Perhaps we speak on after you have been apprehended."

Lancer's grin turned menacing and he chuckled. Twirling his spear he fixed Signum with a look of bold challenge. "Its about time someone like you showed up."

"Erio, leave here immediately, this enemy is beyond you." Signum ordered causing Lancer to glance briefly back to Erio as if just remembering that he was there.

"You heard her." He muttered. "Find yourself a better weapon next time punk."

Erio pulled himself to his feet and stepped away. His body felt like it had been pulverized and his hands were aching from where he had blocked Lancers crushing blows. Quickly he looked between them. Signum was standing tall and proud as always, while Lancer was crouching as if he were an animal ready to pounce. Both held their weapons with both hands.

Erio and indeed most of the forwards had long ago developed an almost blind faith in the pink haired Knights fighting prowess. She was to him and all of them an invincible relic from a long lost age. She had never been defeated in any of their memory's.

But even so he felt a shiver of fear run through him as he looked between the two. Lancer was as fast as she was, that he now knew, and the man was exuding a battle lust so think it was almost tangible. He did not marvel any more that Signum had guessed the man was from a difrent time. Right now it was obvious even to him.

Signum met his eyes and then flicked her head to the side wordlessly. The message was clear. Good job, now get out of here.

Erio limped off to go retrieve his weapon, his pride battered. He still had to make sure Caro was okay.

As soon as he was gone the space between the two Knights filled with a fighting intent even more potent. "Agito." Signum said softly. "Leave me, go help Erio." There came a clucking sound and the little Unison Device flew away from her grudgingly. Despite her bad attitude Agito could sense that Signum did not want her help right now, not when her foe was another Knight and did not have a Unison Device of his own.

"Before we start I should ask you, are you a Servant?" Lancer asked. The woman before him had accurately guessed that he was not from this age and admitted to being from another time herself. That narrowed the possibility's of what she was considerably.

"Indeed." Signum said keeping her sword point trained on him with both hands wrapped around the hilt. "I am a servant of the Mistress of the Night Sky."

"... No, no I mean are you a Heroic Spirit?"

"A Heroic Spirit?" Signum repeated not recognizing the term as any title she knew of.

"No eh?" Lancer said feeling a bit crestfallen. Never the less the was undoubtedly some other sort of supernatural being. This would fun. In all this business he had yet to get even one good opponent so far, even with the other Heroic Spirits all around him. I had been driving him crazy up till now.

"Right then. **_Raahhhhhhhhhhhh!_**"

With a battle shout worthy of a foe calling itself a Knight Cuchulain of the Red Branch charged, blood lust shining in his slitted eyes.

*Scene *

"Crossfire shoot!"

With a surge of violet light Nanoha's magical energy shot forward in a volley of pink light that streaked towards the man in red.

The man, running along the ground leapt and rolled, clearing the path of the beams that split the street behind him and caused the already strained buildings alongside it to collapse.

The next moment the auto guard system on her device conjured a shining circular shield on her left side. The Arrows that had been launched in from that direction in retaliation impacted against it hard but failed to penetrate.

Nanoha looked down at the pile of rubble that was left of the warehouse district infrastructure*& Standing in the middle of it looking up at her with hard eyes was her opponent. He was a tall dark skinned man with white hair dressed in long red coat like garment over black armor and a long black bow in his hand.

"Sir, by the authority of the TSAB please throw down your arms and surrender kindly." She called down to him.

" Oh? A warrant for my arrest? I'm afraid that's not possible." The man called back stringing his bow with another arrow but not lifting it. Nanoha returned the courtesy by keeping her staff by her side.

"You may feel that what you are doing is for the best, I will not claim to know your circumstances, but your crimes are hurting many others. You will help everyone by surrendering yourself and making your reasons clear. If you go on like this then what do you hope to achieve?"

"Oh?" He said sounding mildly amused. "Isn't it irregular to ask such questions in a fight?"

"Not for me." Nanoha said. "What did you hope to achieve by trying to murder Mahail?" She demanded her voice going hard.

The pause this time was much longer, the fact that she knew Mahail's name apparently taking him off guard. "How do you know of that girl?" He asked, all previous traces of humor gone gone from his voice.

"She recently became an acquaintance of my daughter." Nanoha answered evenly.

"And your daughter is still alive?"

The question made Nanoha stop and think. Those simple six words could mean any number of things regarding what Mahail was, but they cleared up the intent of the man before her instantly. He saw her as a danger to be killed before she hurt anyone else.

So, the beginnings of a motive.

"Yes. She is. You know, we have facility's to train or rehabilitate those who have lost control of their own power. Whatever her nightmare don't you think that Mahail would do better in one of those programs with the support of the people around her than simply killed because she posses a potential for danger?"

"You seem to presume know a great deal about what that girl is and what she wants lady." The man responded. "Are you so sure that what you think you know about her is enough to act on?"

As if to punctuate his argument a sound like an explosion went of in the distance.

"If we are unlucky then you might find out tonight." He added thoughtfully glancing over to the direction it had come from.

Nanoha's eyes flashed and she felt a tremor of anger run thought her. "I am sure that I know enough to know that shooting her is not the answer. And if that girl is dangerous then I, Nanoha will be her first friend to guide her away from that path!"

The man chuckled darkly. "So." He said, a very strange tone entering his voice. "You would save this girl you don't even know, gambling her life against those around her... how... _heroic_ of you."

Looking up at her Nanoha observed that his face had darkened while his mouth was locked in a grim smile. "Nanoha was your name. Call me Archer. Forgive me but this battle has suddenly taken on a more personal aspect. You see you reminded me just now of someone I despise."

The bow he was holding dropped to his side, his other hand pointed outward from him as though grasping an invisible bar.

"I had envisioned saying this to that person but alas the moment was lost to me long ago. However Nanoha, I can still find some satisfaction in telling someone like him." His eyes met hers and they were full of something like cruel satisfaction. "Drown in your ideals and die."

Nanoha's eyes flashed and she brought Raising Heart up leveling it at him. "_Raising Heart_!"

"_Trace on_."

Magic gathered around her faithful devices frame turning in long cylindrical loop's around the tip while the computers voice acknowledged: "Master."

"_I am the bone of my sword_..."

In Archers hands a strange blade appeared from thin air, bizarrely shaped like the blade had been twisted during the forging process into a spiral.

"Divine..."

Without a word Archer brought his bow up, stringing the bizarre weapon in the process and taking aim. For a moment it stayed there, the bow strung ridiculously with the spiral sword. Then suddenly the blade glowed. Its features shifted and it transformed into an arrow of light that fitted perfectly.

In Nanoha's device the pink energy gathering there reached critical mass.

"_Buster!"_

"_Caladbolg!" _

The two released their attacks at the same time, Nanoha unleashing the full power of her oldest destructive trump card in a blinding stream of violate energy that rushed forward, surpassing even the old strength that had broken the barrier of the Wolkenritter all those years ago.

Up at her from the ruble below Caladbolg flew up to meet it, twisting the space around it as it flew.

The two forces clashed and exploded upon impact with each other, the twisting power of Caladbolg offset by the shear power of the beam that it hammered against. At the same time Divine Buster encountered an effect that broke the rules under which it could operate. While the beam held it could break all before it, but in colliding with this new weapon space itself betrayed it, twisting in a manner that would not allow the energy to keep on its course. With a huge explosion that nearly sent both shooters off their feet the power contained in Divine Buster flew in every direction as space diverted its course.

As the air between them cleared the scene revealed itself. Neither of the shooters attacks had reached the other... but...

"Restrict Lock" The mechanical voice of Raising Heart intoned the activation words and below her amid the ruble Archer grunted in surprise as pink cords of energy wrapped around his arms legs and torso anchoring him to the ground.

"I am sorry, but from the moment we began talking I was gathering energy around you." Nanoha said. Her face fixed with determination Nanoha began to collect energy around her device once more.

Archer struggled against his bonds for a moment before sighing. "I suppose I am not the only one who is not above dirty tricks."

Nanoha paused, from behind her back a twirling sound was growing louder and she turned quickly to dodge whatever hidden attack she had missed.

From behind her two disks of black and white were spinning towards her at the same time. When had...? Of course. She bashed herself internally. When the explosion had obscured their vision of each other was the most likely time. Not that it mattered now.

Before the discs struck her auto defensor activated deflecting both discs and reveling them upon impact to be not disks but two beautiful curved swords. The real damage had been done however. With a surge of power Archer strained, pushing against the binding spell and at the same time materializing swords from mid air that severed those binding him to the ground.

Before Nanoha could stop him he was free and once again running.

Nanoha flinched at her loss and flew after him, her auto shield intercepting the arrows that her sent her way once more.

"Axel Shooter!"

*Scene *

Skating down the road at high speed Subaru let her thrusters hum and push her forward. The two escaping suspects had quite a head start on them but at the pace she could make with Vita it should only be a matter of time before they caught up. Especially with the orbital surveillance information Shario was feeding them escape was really impossible.

Their path took them off the street and over a building. Evidently the escape pair had tried to hop a roof to throw of any pursuers. It was a hopeless tactic

The blue magical pavement that made up her skates most important ability sprung into existence and she took the building without even a jump. They were getting quite close now.

"Subaru listen." Vita cut in over the com. "Whatever this creature is it's probably going to be pretty big. They wouldn't have gambled anything on something they weren't sure couldn't wreak anyone who came to stop it."

"Ai, it sounds bad." Subaru replied. "We'll, just have to beat it down though I guess."

"No listen. Leave the Monster to me. I want you to focus on securing those suspects. One of em is armed anyway and I think Nanoha wants to dote on the other in the years following this so make sure they get tied up tight."

"Ah, okay!" She said putting some cheer into her voice. Despite the rather tense atmosphere of the night the thought of Nanoha taking in another kid made her laugh. She supposed that in a way that was what this was all about. Rescuing people. It was in her divisions name after all.

The tracking meeter on the telecam beeped and she canceled it. Looking head into the road she spied the two figures. They had slowed to a walk.

"No, No take me back!"

"Mistress you were nearly killed, its time to withdraw."

No no! The Grail is in there! Its in there! We're so close! Put me down you stupid doll!"

"Mistress, if you push yourself past your limit then you will loose control of Berserker."

The older albino woman seemed to be struggling with the small girl in her arms who was squirming and kicking at her however as they drew close she set her down quickly and turned to face them.

"Who's that? Who's that?" The girl hissed, looking at them with hostility. "More of you Magi trying to capture me!"

"Um, hello." Subaru smiled, sheepishly waving at them from beside her commanding officer.

"Lady." Vita growled at the older maid. Floating a few feet of the ground and with her hammer slung over her tiny shoulder Vita must have made a bizarre picture for the two seeing her for the first time. "You two are under arrest. Come quietly or I hammer smash you."

Diplomacy was not for Vita. In her view if Nanoha had tried and failed then there was nothing more to be done with talking. Her job was to offer them the chance to hand themselves over and if not then it was hammer time. Before her was the source of many sleepless hours for her beloved mistress Hayate, and her soft spot for kids was being put under heavy strain by that fact.

The little white haired girl looked at both of them for a little before pointing to Vita. "You, your a homunculus like me aren't you?"

"What did you call me you little witch?" Vita growled. In the back of her mind however something stirred. Hadn't someone called her that before?

Mahail scoffed lightly, the noise coming off as fake even to her own ears. "It doesn't matter. You people all think you can take me and just have me do whatever you want. Because you're older than me? Because your bigger than me? Because you have some sort of legal authority?"

She laughed nastily.

"No, that's not what we are-"

"Save your breath Subaru." Vita interrupted, taking her warhammer down from her shoulder.

The maid in white responded likewise by hefting her enormous pole-arm. "Mistress, allow me, there is no need to materialize Berserker."

Mahail nodded to her maid who swung her halberd around experimentally a few times. "This will take only a moment."

The albino woman charged forward covering the ten yards between them swinging her ax like weapon in a long arch over her head at Subaru.

The cyborg met it head on, thrusting her Revolver Knuckle up to stop its decent. She gave only slightly at the impact. The pail skinned woman was very strong but as far as power went it seemed that Subaru had the advantage.

The maid's eyes widened at the sight of her halberd stopped so easily. She never got a second strike. Impatient with the whole situation Vita resolved the fight in a single move, Graff Einsin swooping in and catching her in the shoulder. The maid screamed and went flying impacting one of the buildings on the side of the street and falling in a crumpled heap, the wall behind her stained with blood.

Vita took in the sight of the woman's blood with distaste. "Damn, she didn't have a barrier jacket."

"Wait what!" Subaru squealed giving the unconscious body a shocked look. A direct hit from a magically enhanced device could easily be fatal for an unprotected person. Scanning her quickly she was relieved to find that the woman was still alive.

"Phff." Vita blew air through her lips turning back to the little girl who was staring forward with a blank expression. "Who are you people? You go around attacking our city, using magic and you don't even have _barrier jackets_?"

"Useless." Mahail said looking at the crumpled body of her attendant.

"What?"

"She's useless. Those two spent all their time harping over me and claiming that it was for my own protection, and when the time comes they cant even defend me."

"What?" Subaru exclaimed in disbelief. "What are you saying about someone who just got hurt fighting for you?"

"Girl..." Vita growled. Subaru looked over and found that the Vita had gone completely red in the face at hearing her words. "This monster of yours had better be strong, or I might have to much anger left over from beating it to go easy on you!"

Mahail snorted and then uttered one word. "Berserker."

Something in space in front of her rippled. Subaru squinted her eyes as a heavy presence suddenly became noticeable.

With a glimmer of dull light like a dark mist gathering a monster appeared before the pale faced girl.

Subaru let out a soft gasp as she looked up at it, its form framed against the sky.

The summoning and control of monstrous creatures was a rare but by no means unheard of art in the modern magical system. While still considered a rare skill, summoning was common enough that its details were included in basic training at the TSAB armed forces academy and in her days Subaru had run across a few, in the Scaglietti incident and other places. As someone who had worked together with Caro Ru Lushe she was in fact familiar with dragons, the creatures often regarded as the most powerful summons of all.

The monster that appeared here however was not like anything she had ever seen.

Instead of any dragon, or sand-worm or insectoid beast what appeared before them in the street was a man. A man so enormous that he could not be called a man anymore. It was a giant.

It stood over eight feet tall with a build so thick that his arms were like tree trunks. His body was a mass of bulging mussels, impossibly huge and fed by thick cord like veins that popped out visibly from his skin. For some reason his flesh was the color of dull lead. The giants face was so rough that it had ceased to have much look of humanity left to it, a look only accentuated by his eyes, one a deep alien gold whilst the other was an inhuman red. It was wearing nothing save for some sort of armored kilt bond up in the front by a steel buckle, while in its hands it held what appeared to be a huge slab of jagged stone roughly in the shape of a club or crude sword.

More than any of this however was the overwhelming presence of death that seeped from it in waves.

Subaru found that her mouth was slightly open and closed it carefully. She had fought monsters before, and robots even who were bigger than this one so why...

"Damn." Vita intoned next to her. "He's a big one isn't he?" She had commented only on his size, but Subaru could tell from her tone she was feeling the same thing. This was no simple summoned monster. It was a most dangerous adversary who had appeared.

"Berserker!" Mahail snapped. As the black giant had appeared something in her demeanor had also changed. The monster she was ordering about was making her just as nervous as it was them it seemed.

Without a cry or any sort of battle shout the giant suddenly ran forward at them, the earth shaking beneath its feet with every step. It cleared the space between them faster than Subaru had expected something so large could move and beside her she heard Vita utter an obscenity. Before either of them could properly get out of the way it was upon them, swinging its immense stone sword downward.

"Panzerhideris!"

With an explosion of force the giant brought his stone slab down on the red barrier that Graf Eisen had erected. Vita's eyes widened as the giant's blow carried with it ten times the force that she had expected, her shield straining to hold back the power comparable to a missile strike that had been carried in the giants arm.

But it was only the beginning. Lifting his weapon like one might lift a slender rod Berserker hammered down with it again and again, the shield reaching its limit and bursting with the third strike.

Utilizing her flight Vita flew backwards and upwards from the giant moving out of its reach. Weather because it was the will of its master who had identified Vita as the more dangerous one or simply because it's attention was focused on the one who had blocked its attack first it ignored Subaru and charged after Vita leaping fifteen feet into the air and swinging at her with its ax sword.

She was ready for it and with a fierce cry brought her hammer down to smash the giants stone sword to pieces.

Nothing of the sort happened. Although Subaru highly doubted that it was a device there was no question of whether the stone slab was empowered by magic. The two weapons met with a crash and both came away unscathed, Berserker falling back to the earth below and cracking the concrete on his landing.

With the giants back turned to her Subaru charged up Revolver Knuckle and skated towards it shouting "Knuckle Duster!"

Her attack hit it in the small of the back (it was the highest point on the giants body that she could reach) with all the force she could muster, the grinders on her knuckle spinning away. What she had expected was to encounter a barrier jacket and break through or for her attack to pulverize the giants seemingly unprotected flesh, either way the result would be a blow to the spine that would send it over on its back and keep it down.

Instead to her shock her knuckle slammed into the giants flesh and stopped, the spinners on her device slipping harmlessly off the giants skin. She blinked and look in the results of her strike with astonishment. Her attack did not seem to have done any damage. If Berserker had felt anything he gave no sign. Drawing back again she powered up for another.

"Shwalbefligen!" Vita shouted from above using her hammer like a croquet mallet and smashing several iron balls she conjured in her hands down at the giant below.

The enchanted metal ball bearings flew true, each one pelting the giants face or chest from above with enough strength to break most shields. Her frown deepened as they clattered off her targets barrier jacket without any sign of damage.

Forgoing more of the same Vita raised her hammer and dived down on her foe swinging Graf Eisen towards his head. Berserker's stone club came up to smash her in return as she came down forcing her to readjust her position and change her aim. Her small size allowed her to slip past but instead of the head her strike landed upon his upper arm. That side of his body shook and he grunted but his body was amazingly tough and the bone held.

Vita cursed and spat as the giant aimed another wild blow at her and used the flat of its club to swat her away like a fly. She parried with her hammer and was blown back through the air for a ways before righting herself.

"This guy!" She grit out to herself. Exceeding even the expectation she had had for something that big the giant was _unbelievably_ strong.

Behind him Subaru was still wailing away on his unprotected back, and Vita flinched as the giant spun around with uncanny quickness and backhanded her sending her flying across the street and into a building.

"Subaru!" She called out on reflex. From the look of it the blue haired dummy was alright, but even so it got Vita's protective instincts singing. Sending Subaru flying was reserved for her or at least TSAB approved and registered training officers.

Calling up a surge of power from her linker core she stirred the air around her feet. "Prerde!"

"Graff Eisen, Cartridge Load!"

The Belkan device verbally confirming her mental command in its deep base. "Rakkenform!"

Her speed bolstered by the double whirlwinds that were now churning below her Vita flew forward like a missile, diving low to the ground and zipping towards the giants legs with her now spike like hammer spewing a jet of flame out the back. The bigger they are the harder they fall. She would see him try and shrug off this.

Protecting a crimson shield before her that took the giants opening blow she griped her rocket hammer and twirled in a circle as she flew by, unleashing all her weapons built up momentum upon Berserkers knee joint just below the kilt.

Vita was rewarded with a satisfying crunch. Above her the giant roared in pain at a deafening volume as the Knight of the Iron Hammer shattered its kneecap and broke its leg so badly that it bent in the wrong direction.

Grinning inwardly she drew her hammer back to finish the giant of with a blow to the head when its counter attack came, a leaden fist that sent her crashing into the ground thirty yards away.

Her impact smashed a large crater into the street and gave her a nasty jolt but she ignored it. She had not expected the giant to strike back in the same moment that its leg was pulverized. Shaking herself off she flew out of the crater and got another surprise. Instead of laying on the ground howling in agony the giant was nearly on top of her, running with one leg while it forced the ruined other to bear its weight in what had to be one of the most painful running limps Vita had ever seen.

She took to the air again just before Berserker caught up with her and slammed the cratered area with his stone club.

Berserker looked up into the sky at her after finding she was not laying mangled at the bottom of the crater roared, this time in fury his huge lungs making as much noise as any dragon, a beastal wordless noise that carried no syllables: ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄

Vita stared down at him not sure what to make of it. It had just proven that it was still dangerous, and even though it was now slower it could probably still do quite a bit of damage. The question was how long it could keep going with its leg in that condition.

Deciding to finish it off Vita flew at it from the side of its bad leg swinging her hammer down at its shoulder. As soon as she came within reach however it pivoted on its good leg with surprising agility and brought its ax/club swinging around. Vita countered the strike with one of her shields and thanked the Saint Kings for Panzerhideris. Without this simple barrier the giants advantage in reach with his axe club was just to great the overcome and she was not sure if she would ever have been able to get close without having to block its ridiculous weapon and getting pushed away.

Her attack landed but once again the giants monstrous body took the damage and kept on going, launching its next blow without any delay.

Turning her hammer so that it was between her and Berserker's axe/club Vita set her strength against its, determined to take it apart here and now.

It was a bad judgment on her part. Meeting a solid strike from even level head on for the first time Vita gasped as her body shook from the strain of blocking its single handed swipe. Compelled by shear momentum to fly backwards through the air she nearly lost her balance as she went, righting herself after a dozen feet.

Berserker was after her like a hell hound roaring again as it charged. Accepting its challenge she charged forward herself throwing all her strength into it and igniting her rocket hammer once more. They met head on with a shout, but once again it was Vita who was sent reeling backwards. Her hammer had failed to reach Berserker's body, the great length of the giants weapon preventing her from landing a clean hit.

Vita nearly collided with the ground this time. Prior experience with the giant's relentlessness made her take off immediately rising into the air as fast as she could.

She came to rest about fifty feet up in the air looking down on her dark skinned foe in hatred. There were not many things in this day and age that were stronger than her. At least she still had the advantage though, by now it should be near the end of it endurance with its leg in such a... Vita's eyes narrowed as she looked down at it and then widened. Its leg which only half a minute or so before had been a twisted shape bent completely the wrong way had set nearly back into its original position. While she could still make out places where the broken bone was jutting out at incorrect angles the leg was obviously not as bad as it had been when received. What the hell was that thing?

Down the street a little Subaru pulled herself out of the rubble and looked over at the scene of the battle. In the air above Vita was standing looking down at the black giant. Even from this distance she could almost feel Vita's rage at the thing below her. She could also certainly feel the giants rage at the girl above it however and the two clashing wills would have made her shudder had she not been in battle mode.

With a powerful jump the thing rocketed up at its object of wrath while Vita gave a shout and flew down to meet it. The two clashed mid air again before separating once more.

She sized up her options. She could assist Vita and together they could take the so called Berserker down or... She looked down the street in the other direction. There still standing in the middle of the road was the little girl, looking rather anxious at the battle taking place. The idealistic part of herself wanted to help Vita. The giant was very strong and with both of them they could probably ensure that neither of them got injured severely in the possess.

However there was a simpler option. Deciding to go with what the academy officers would have told her to do Subaru turned towards Mahail and gave a push with her skates. Despite difficulty Vita seemed to have the giant well in hand, and at times the small knight in girl form hated having someone else barge in on her fight. For now her duty was to secure the girl.

Rolling over towards her Subaru prepared herself for the possibility of having to get rough with a small child. It was not as difficult with this one as she would have once thought. If any little girl needed a spanking she decided, then Mahail would take first place.

Mahial saw her coming and jolted in fear. "No! Get away from me! Berserker!"

Still closing in on her Subaru suddenly felt a shadow loom behind her.

"Subaru watch out!" Vita shouted from behind.

Before she realized what it was her back exploded in pain. A force so powerful that it felt like a freight train had just landed on her piledrove her into the earth before she could even open her mouth to scream.

For a second she lay there dazed, but it did not last. Even though the force had been enough to wound her through there barrier jacket Subaru was a combat cyborg. Her brain was protected from hard impact in a way that un-enhanced humans could only dream of.

What a fool she had been, she thought to herself. Of course the giant would protect its master at all costs, and that was what had happened. The moment it had detected that its mistress was in peril it had abandoned its battle with Vita and focused on destroying the one who was threatening its charge.

Even now it was looming over her, and if that one strike had done this then was it not attacking again?

With both her arms Subaru thrust herself out of the crater her upper body had been indented into and rose to her feet as fast as she could. Pain was shooting through her body in various places but she ignored it, the reason she had not been hit more than once revealed.

Only a few yards from her Vita and the giant were clashing with new intensity, the red clad Knight of the Iron Hammer shouting her lungs out, her eyes blazing as she pummeled the one who had struck her friend so badly with a burning vengeance.

Vita, having seen her friend and subordinate being targeted had immediately abandoned her advantage in height and engaged the monster once again head on to save her friend. In truth she did not mind so much. A failure to protect those dear to her was by her standards the most terrible heresy. It was in fact here that she was at her strongest. The fight up to that point had not been serious for the her. Going head to head with her foe in a battle of attrition, laughing off her enemy's pathetic attacks while she hammered them to pieces, that was the Knight of the Iron Hammers true way of battle.

But for some reason, just as Vita committed herself to the fight full on the tide had turned. Standing before her furry like an unbreakable pillar Berserker matched her onslaught in ever aspect. Vita shouted, but drowning out the volume of her voice Berserker's roar shook the air and smashed the windows out all over the street, great clouds of steam rising from his mouth as he bellowed:▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄. Despite Vita's mad pace for every hammer blow that she sent crashing at Berserker the lead giant matched it with one of his own... no, his pace was faster than her's. Before her very eyes Vita was being overwhelmed.

The giant fought as if his wounds did not exist, swinging his sword like it was the only thing he had ever done he deflected all of Vita's attacks while landing his own with terrible regularity, smashing the shields that Graf Eisen created automatically to pieces. What few strikes that Vita did score did not seem to do anything, only glancing off the giants hide much as her own earlier attack had.

Subaru realized with dawning horror that despite his size Berserker was moving faster than Vita, his arms a black blur, coming in from every angle. Before that terrible rapidity Vita was now like a drowning person fighting just to keep their head above the water as another blow tore into her Knights Armor making her gasp.

Subaru fell backwards as a gust of wind from their clashing weapons lashed out at her. Scrambling away she regained her footing just as the area she had been standing on was obliterated by an inaccurate hit from the giant.

The two were tearing apart the whole street. Already the buildings on either side were falling to pieces from the wind generated by their clash. It was like a hurricane.

Vita was bleeding now. She had been hit twice dead on by the demonic weapon of her enemy and blood was streaming from her face as she fought.

It was the sight of her blood that sparked Subaru into action again. She had to save Vita before that monster killed her!

"Revolver Knuckle!" She shouted plunging into the maelstrom. The revolving grinders on her devise began to spin as she rocketed towards the giant, underneath her feet Wing Road sprung into existence caving a blue path for her thought the air.

Subaru activated her IS without even having to check to see if she was in full Cyborg mode or not, vibrations created deep in her body traveling out from her core and through her arm building inside Revolver Knuckle forming a stored shock-wave that radiated outward, combining with her manna into blue rings that circled her device like halo's.

Rolling towards the black giant on her self constructing highway she caught it by surprise from the side slamming Match caliber into its temple and releasing all her stored energy at once into the weakest point in the human skull.

It was a solid hit, the shock-wave that transferred itself from her gauntlet made the air around it explode outwards in a shock wave worthy of the ones that Vita and Berserker were creating.

But it was no good. Impossibly, against all rules or logic and reality that Subaru had ever harbored the shockwave did nothing to the dark skinned giant, not even making an imprint on his skin once again Subaru's power fist was stopped by nothing.

Her eye's, yellow with the cyborg transformation widened and returned to their natural color. What was going on?

A huge fist reached out to grasp her. Berserker had noticed her again and this time he seemed intent on capture. She punched it as it came but the result was no different from the attack on its temple*&* and it kept coming as if nothing had happened.

"Subaru no!" There was a rush of red and suddenly Vita was there shoving her out of the way. The huge fist wrapped around her legs and Vita was pulled away.

Swinging her around like a child's toy Berserker slammed his victim into the ground twice and then threw her like a pitcher down the street, Vita hitting the ground and bouncing making large craters every time. She sailed down the entire length of the road slamming into the building at the very end and then out of sight. She was gone.

Subaru reached out her hand towards the point that Vita had disappeared and then paused, In front of her the giant loomed, huge black and invincible, the one who had just crushed her combat instructor in front of her.

Berserker looked down at her with its molten glare as if not quite sure what to make of her. In its eye was no inelegance but only animal instinct and she felt beyond a shadow of a doubt that if she ran it would come after her and she was sure she could not escape.

Berserker eyed her for a second longer before grunting and bringing its arm up to smash her to pieces.

"Berserker lets _go!_" The angry voice of Mahail floated down the street to them and Berserker paused before turning and bounding away.

Subaru watched them go. Despite her extreme injury the maid was also upright once more, and the hulking form of the giant scooped them both up before it bounded off into the night.

The moment they were gone Subaru turned and skated&^ as fast as she could down the street towards where she had last seen Vita.

The street no longer resembled anything like what it had originally. Its pavement and sidewalk had been ground to gravel, its buildings and light posts leveled completely by the shock-waves generated by the two berserkers clashing. The ground was so scored and uneven that Subaru was forced to use Wing Road to make a smooth path for herself to move over.

She found Vita at last in the middle of the block next over. The small childlike Knight was laying very still at the end of a trail of craters left by her own impact. She was splattered in blood.

"Vita! Vita!" Subaru shouted skating up to her and falling to her knees by her commander.

"Shit."

"Vita your okay!" Subaru breathed feeling a huge weight of dispare role off her.

"No Subaru... I'm pretty _&^%&$^#_ far from okay." She spat in a pained shaking voice.

"Hold on, I'll call Hayate!"

"No. _no!_" Vita shouted with surprising volume for her condition. Subaru stopped just short of opening her telecam link and looked at Vita in surprise.

With a good deal of effort Vita pulled herself to her feet and carefully wiped her face on her sleeve cleaning it of blood. Only after she was very sure their was none left did she open the telecam to the control room.

"Vita!" Hayate shouted making her wince. With full a full orbital view of the battlefield at her fingertips Hayate had already seen everything, and over the telecam they could hear her voice shaking.

"Medical aid is coming as we speak! Hang on!"

"Ah, Hayate." Vita said sounding humiliated. "I'm alright. Its nothing..."

"Vita you must stay still. Lay down. How much damage have you taken?"

For the first time Vita looked down at herself. She was bleeding from the nose, the left side of her face was a mass of bruises, she was splattered in blood and her left arm was hanging at an odd angle.

Vita panted and then forced a smile. " Don't worry Mistress. I had that punk on the rails."

*Scene *

Standing at her station in the control room Hayate bit the inside of her lip trying not to shake. The situation was terrible. In a few minutes it had gone from a simple pursuit and a sniper hunt to an all out one on one battle. Signum was engaged in a full battle with the blue Mage with the spear device, Lancer he had called himself, while Nanoha and the one called Archer were still playing cat and mouse.

Vita had been defeated by some sort of giant madman and for all she knew her friends life was in danger again.

She clutched the side of her control station.

_Hold on. Hold on every one._

In the telecam direction before her, the helicopters containing Fate and the late numbers cyborg unit a long with every other special force team in the sector were coming in to the rescue.

*Scene *

_Author notes:_

_So some of you are undoubtedly saying: Grimgor, how can this be?_

_Well the answer is I wrote like a beast with Paul Stanly "Live to Win" playing in the background the entire time. Even when I was asleep. _

_So. The decision has been made. I am going to publish the revised version of this story under a different name. So this is the second to last chapter that is going to be published under the title Chain Reactions: a collision of interests._

_So after this fight scene finally finishes I will start editing and publishing. As with this chapter expect the next chapter to come out soon. _

_So apart from all that, for this chapter: _

_There is a very important question you should all ask yourselves._

_Why is this the second time they have had a battle in front of a warehouse? If I ever do this again call me out on it. _

_Yeah, so Nanoha has picked up a thing for Mahail. Wonder how this is gona work out...Will they save her? Does she even have enough humanity to be saved? Find out... probably not for a long time... :(_

_For the part where Rin sees through Archers eyes and talks to him long distance, Phared Perception and long range voice protection are both demonstrated in Fate Zero by Kotomine and Kayneth respectively. They were both referred to as rather simple tricks so I saw no reason why Rin should not know both. _

_Also, the reason why Berserker was inside the warehouse while Mahail and Lessirit were outside is because Mahail does not trust her Servant. She was monitoring him and watching his progress with a familiar. _

_For Nanoha vs Archer, yeah. Its going down. Who ever said that they would be friends? The two Hero's meet and they are PISSED at each other. Well, Nanoha is pissed, Archer is just kind of being a bitter jerk right now. He is more connected to Mahail than Nanoha knows (As he loved Illya very much) and her judgment on the issue she doesn't know very well ticked him off. _

_It is rather fun writing two characters who will both use dirty tricks._

_Now I am going to get two factions with this. The Nanoha enthusiasts who will say "Hey! We saw the Fate Stay Night Anime! Caldabog is nowhere strong enough to stop Divine Buster!"_

_And the Fate Stay enthusiasts who will say. "What the hell? How did Divine Buster stop an attack that twists space itself and went through Caster's defenses like butter?" _

_The answer for the Nanoha party is that in the Anime Caldabog is very poorly represented. Its a super attack that distorts space and blew up a whole cemetery, not the little explosion that we see in the Archer vs Berserker battle in the Anime._

_For the Fate'ers it is the shear brute force of Divine Buster that stopped Caldabog. Even if it twists space some part of it is still coming into major contact with what it is twisting and thus it can be affected by conventional energy attacks. Its just way better at going through them than normal. Think of it like the time Caster broke the rules of magic just by how much prana she had._

_For the Berserker fight: As for "What a bout god hand? Why were Vitas attacks hurting Berserker?" I count Vita as having A rank Strength. I struggled between giving her B rank strength and A rank but in the end I decided to give her A. She's probably the second strongest character in the whole series, second only to Signum. I actualy had the whole Berserker vs Vita fight written out for Vita at B rank strength and unable to hurt Berserker except with specials but in the end I reworked it. This is one of the things that I want peoples opinions on. Which do you find more realistic? B rank strength Vita or A rank strength Vita? _

_The typo check might not be as good for this one. Couldent get ahold of my Beta._


	15. Chapter 15 War pt 2

Ch 15 War pt 2

The warehouse interior lay in undeniable ruin, the corridors and hallways smashed in and reduced to ruble leaving a long scar torn through the building. It was not an easy place to navigate anymore and Teana found herself having to take frequent detours around piles of ruble or caved in sections to keep going.

Occasionally she would wince as she saw the remains of some unfortunate who had been caught in the path of this destruction. At least it must have been quick judging from the remains condition.

"Stars 4." Hayate called urgently over the com.

"Control?"

"Stop your search, Terrorist reinforcements have arrived and engaged us in earnest. You have a hostile contact following you into the building from behind. Subject is female with violet hair wearing a brown three piece suite. No barrier jacket seen equipped."

"...Roger." Teana confirmed turning back towards the way she had come. She was not surprised that something like this had happened. In the current situation it was only natural that the terrorists would come in a time like this. The only point that struck her odd was the reported absence of a barrier jacket. Surly they wouldn't be desperate enough to be using ordinary solders to attack a place like this?

She turned and waited charging up her magic "Fake Silhouette." She said softly moving away to the side and ducking behind a pile of ruble. In the center of the scar where she had just left, a perfect mirror image of her was now standing, its long orange hair fluttering lightly in the draft that was moving through the carved out tunnel of destruction offering a obvious target to anyone coming from that direction.

She readied her magic and waited.

Sure enough after a few minutes, from the direction she had just come the described figure made its appearance looking to Teana more like an out of place civilian than anything. The violet haired woman was picking her way through the ruble warily and paused at the sight of her mirror image.

Any possibility of having mistaken her intentions vanished as the woman charged, leaping over a broken wall that was obscuring her path and darting towards her to cover the distance between them. The woman moved exceedingly fast and Teana quickly adjusted her danger estimation of this person from low to high. She moved like one of the Numbers.

"Shoot Barret" From the tip of her guns several magical bullets of orange light shot leaping out at the charging woman, the illusory copy she had made imitating her in every way so that it looked like it was the one who had fired.

The woman leapt into a dive and passed under the bullets, continuing her charge towards the one she perceived as her target.

Teana fired again, this time shooting in a wider area to limit the possibility of dodging. Her enemy however did not stall, but actually proceeded to punch all of her bullets out of the air with incredibly fast strikes from her gloved hands, the magical darts breaking apart in the air as they met a force greater than them.

How...? Perhaps she was wearing a barrier jacket and was employing some sort of concealment for it? That would work to lower people's guard actually. Teana's mind worked in such an efficient pattern, analyzing the situation and immediately considering the most likely explanation as the truth even if it lay outside her experience. It was the mindset of a skilled adapter.

In that case this woman was obviously a powerful and cunning opponent. Deciding to up her firepower Teana gathered her magic steadily into a series of ten orbs behind her back. In the old days she had needed a cartage to do as many as ten at once, however that was years ago. Now, with her magic quite advanced in power from what it had been she no longer needed to rely upon that for this spell. She was able to now create ten orbs all while making her mirror image appear to do the same.

The woman, seeing the charge up attack sped up, finally closing the long gap between her and her supposed enemy.

"Crossfire Shoot!"

At the last moment the woman saved herself, perhaps realizing that she would not make it to her fake target if she kept going she employed the same trick as before in reverse, throwing herself completely backwards off her feet like she was slipping on a banana. Once again the magical barrage passed over her and a moment latter she twisted her body on the ground strangely springing to her feet without the use of her hands.

Finishing the last few steps to her enemy the woman drove her fist into the fake Teana's chest, caving in her entire upper body as though it was made of paper.

At the side Teana winced. If that woman closed with her it would be over fast. She now had two choices. A longer draw out ranged battle or more potently fast solution...

"Optic Hide." Falling back behind her cover Teana's outline blurred. A second latter she was completely transparent.

Illusions were a very rare art, the ability to craft an image out of the air, or distort light so subtly that ones transparency would be convincing was a skill that few among Mages could accomplish and still be able to employ in a fight.

It was this that was one of Teana's greatest points of pride in her ability. Even from her early years she had been able to create convincing illusions on the battlefield and since then her skill had only picked up. It made her a difficult opponent to face even when her enemy's out-powered her. There were after all few good ways to counter a skilled illusionist, and because of their rarity even Mages with long experience had little knowledge of dealing with her.

The woman was now looking around warily for her true aggressor, turning slowly in circles and scanning the entire ruined area with her fists clenched in front of her.

Moving as quietly as she could Teana worked her way slowly closer to her enemy, taking a huge gamble in the process. While it could mean an instant victory, it could also mean the reverse if she were to mess up.

Slowly, stalking in closer and closer Teana stopped only a few feet from her enemy and then lifted her gun, waiting till she was fully facing the other way.

It was over very quickly. With a simple pull of the trigger Teana shot a low powered magical bullet into the woman's back just below the neck. She gave a gasp and collapsed instantly, falling forward onto her face with a thud.

Teana let out a sigh of relief and dropped her invisibility. That had been a dicey moment. The woman was obviously quite alert and she had not know for a bit if she would have sensed something and decided to act on it or not. Thankfully Teana was no slouch when it came to sneaking up on people having taken several classes on silent movement when she had decided to employ this kind of strategy. Apart from this she had also looked into a noise muffling attribute for her barrier jacket. Altogether her stealth capability's were now quite advanced.

"Loop Bind" Her device intoned as she gathered her power around her opponent into cords. In a moment the unconscious suspect was firmly secured by the glowing bonds that had materialized over her.

"Control. This is Starts 4, I have apprehended the suspect."

Their was a log pause over the telecam during which it sounded as though Hayate was busy shouting urgent orders to someone else. Teana felt her pulse quicken. The battle going on outside must be fiercer than she had thought. Just how many terrorists had shown up at once to give a group containing Signum and Nanoah a hard time?

"Stars 4? Is that you?" Hayates urgent voice came addressing her this time.

"Yes this is me, I have secured my follower, she is unconscious."

"Good, turn back and rejoin the group immediately. The one's inside say they have their situation under control, provide assistance to the other Force members as quickly as you can!"

"Roger!"

From what Hayate had sounded like the others were definitely in need of her assistance.

Bending down she grabbed her new hostage, slung her over her shoulder with a grunt. Despite her urge for haste she still couldn't just leave her enemy here tied up. It was strange to note, but now that she felt her she could tell: this Mage really did not have a barrier jacket at all. It was a conundrum to solve another day but for now she was in danger of dieing if the roof caved in.

The woman was heavy but Teana was in very good shape, and with the minor boosts to strength that she received from her magic she was able to carry her without being slowed down to much. Teana began running back towards the entrance. She had come this way picking along carefully for fear of a cave in and if she ran she could probably make it back in only a few minutes.

Running along as quickly as she could manage over the uneven surface of the ruble scar she watched her feet carefully so as not to trip. She was almost there...

"Mistress!" Cross Mirage rang out in warning. Teana whipped her head up in alarm. Standing about a dozen yards in front of her was another woman she did not recognize. Unlike the other this one was shorter, wearing a red coat and black skirt that fell to her knees while her long black hair hung freely behind her.

Once again her foe was not wearing a barrier jacket, and indeed was dressed as if she was going out to some sort of nice restaurant.

Her face however did not match any of this. The dark scowl it held was clearly that of an enemy.

How had she come so close before Cross Mirage alerted her?

"Gandr Shot." Instead of any device the woman's hand was pointed at her as if holding an invisible gun. It was a gesture that any child would immediately know as the "Bang! Your dead!"game This was not imaginary however. From the tip of the woman's finger a series of dark orbs shot out in a burst of rapid fire energy bullets.

Teana, who was still holding her hostage over her shoulder could only level her device at the woman with one hand, knowing already that she was to late.

The bullets of black energy struck her square in the chest with considerable force, knocking the breath out of her and sending her over backwards while her hostage tumbled out of her hands. For a split second something else besides simple force had impacted her with those bullets. A sense of nausea briefly made itself known as the bullets struck her before receding.

Teana hit the ground without major disorientation however. Her barrier jacket had taken the blow quite nicely and goodness knows that they knocked you over in basic training enough times to prepare you for something like this. Immediately seeking to regain her feet she threw her legs forward as hard as possible and arched her back at the same time, her momentum lifting her off the ground and into a low crouch. Her gun hand leveled itself at her target in a single smooth motion.

Altogether it had taken her only a single second to regain her feet and aim her weapon, yet at the same time her opponent had not been idle.

Moving her hands in a graceful circular motion over themselves the woman chanted "_Engalts Hinrichtung_" and extended one of her hands almost gently towards her at the exact moment that her gun began to come up.

The lightning bolt that sprang forth from her fingertips came and went in an instant, striking her barrier jacket with tremendous force and burning its light green outline into her retina for the split second it was visible. Teana flew backwards hard and hit the ground with a violent jolt.

"_Vindas Einascherung" _

Teana looked up just in time to see looked up just in time to see her enemy making hand motions as though she was pulling something out of the air. Into her dainty hands a huge sheet of flame suddenly sprang forth and with a shoving motion the mage sent it all streaming down on her.

Teana screamed briefly as the burning wave descended. It was not an explosion but a intense mass of fire that pined her to the ground with its pressure and blazed with searing heat that she could feel through her barrier jacket. She struggled to rise but the flame was relentless and it ground her into the ruble. If this went on her barrier jacket would fail and she would burn to death, but unlike most fire attacks this one showed no sign of letting up. It kept coming steadily like a flamethrower being pored on an already blazing target. Panicking slightly Teana activated her defense right in front of her face.

A golden shield of energy sprang into existence above her warding the fire off. Loosing no time she rolled out from under her protection spell and lifted her gun firing blindly. Sure enough her aim had been true and the woman had been forced to dodge her shots allowing Teana the time to roll to the side and then regain her feet uninterrupted.

Thin ribbons of smoke were coming off her barrier jacket now and Teana winced. The situation was not good. Her opponent had got the drop on her and exploited it for massive damage. "Barrier jacket at 40%" Cross Mirage informed her, confirming her dangerous situation. Now she could only hope she had enough skill to turn this around.

The dark haired woman was glaring at her as she dodged her bullets, her lip curled back in disdain while the sleeve of her shirt had been blown back, perhaps by her own power, revealing her arm which was glowing with strange green letter like pasterns as she pumped more of her black bullets out from her fingertip.

Leveling her gun Teana returned fire once more and then dived to the side again. Her enemy's 'Gandr Shots' hammered into the space she had just left at a rapid fire pace that exceeded her own.

*Scene *

With a series of sharp 'clangs' Signum's sword parried the lightning quick jabs that were thrown her way. The pink haired knight returned with a lunging offense, trying to overwhelm her opponent with her great speed. Her first test in a battle was always to see if an opponent could keep up with her. It was a test that was inevitably failed nine times out of ten.

Lancer however passed with flying colors, the Knight in blue wearing a small grin as he adjusted his footing and kept her from getting inside the reach of his spear with no great struggle. The man meeting her charge better than she could have asked for. Even after witnessing his high speed fight with Erio she could not help but marvel at the Knights swiftness.

Signum felt her blood stir.

Thrusting his lance out to impale her heart only for it to be deflected once again Lancer clicked his tongue and upped his speed again, thrusting his spear at hypersonic speeds towards every part of her body. Her sword met his spear every time, knocking the tip away with a firm grace backed up by a tremendous strength that surpassed his own. His grin widened slightly. Unlike the whelp he had fought earlier it seemed that this one could not be defeated by simple strikes.

Leaping forward and sideways into the air Lancer moved like a flash of light, lashing out from the side to cut open Signum's neck.

She parried the blow with the same ease as the others and adjusted her footing in an instant, pressing in close and slashing forward to cut him diagonally across his chest.

Laevatein met the shaft of Lancers spear with a resounding 'clang' and a shower of brilliant sparks. No sooner had she drawn her sword back again however when Lancer swung his spear like a staff seeking to bash her head in..

Signum threw herself backwards to avoid the blow and then flew up more than a dozen feet into the air, bating her enemy to come after her.

Lancer however did nothing of the sort, simply pausing and looking up at her in surprise. "Where are you going?" He demanded when she did not return to the earth immediately.

"What is the matter Lancer? Are you afraid to face me in the air?" She called down to him coolly.

"Don't mock me! I'm not such a draiodoir that I can walk above the earth."

"You have mastered combat to this level yet you can't fly? You must be ashamed Lancer."

To Signum such a thing was ridiculous. While the majority among Belkan Knights were still ground bound, that someone who had achieved this degree of speed and skill would be unable to was out of place.

"Shut up! The warriors place is always facing his enemy on the ground! Who ever heard of a Knight flying in the air before?"

"You mock me?" Signum said narrowing her eyes at Lancer below her on the ground.

"Yes." Came the sure reply. "Now come down unless you're a coward who fears my spear-point. Calling _me_ a disappointment!" Lancer barked up at her, his face contorting in anger at her jibe.

"Lavanteen." Signum called feeling anger rising inside her. She flipped a cartridge into it with her thumb, her voice wintery. It had been a long time since anyone had blatantly challenged her honor as a Knight, much less anyone with any fighting ability to match her with. More than simple anger she now had a fighter who was worth proving wrong. "Purple Lightning Flash!"

With a 'whoosh!' the blade of her sword burst into towering flame while a ribbon of pure blue energy wound around and around it, coming off in spiral's, a whirlwind spinning away from the inferno.

Arching her sword high she descended to earth like a meteorite bringing the full weight of her title of the General of the Blazing Flame with her.

Seeing her coming Lancer jumped backwards, evading her charging decent just before the area he had been standing in exploded in force and flame, Lavanteen slashing through the pavement and unleashing all the stored up magical energy with a force meant to break the swords of other Knights to pieces during the warring era.

The ground cratered into a huge pit that changed the face of the entire lot and sent burning concrete shrapnel everywhere.

From the center of this crater Signum arose, floating back up to what was once ground level with a grace and dignity that any princess would struggle to match.

"Kheha!" With a short laughing cry Lancer bounded towards her from out of the clearing smoke completely unscathed and with a eager light in his eyes.

Signum, her sword still burning, met the warrior in the air, deflecting all three of his jabs and sending him hurtling back to the ground with her counter strike.

Lancer landed and kept his feet on the inside of the crater in an impressive display of balance before leaping out and landing on the still even ground on the edge of the crater.

Signum rushed at him, plowing into his defense with her burning blade. Lancer blocked with his spear shaft and stood his ground, giving only a few steps before he brought her to a halt. For a moment the two faced each other with their heads only a foot or so away from each other. Lancer was grinning like a feral animal as he stared into Signums cold gaze. Both were unscathed.

"You have quite a sword there woman." He ground out excitedly, his muscles bulging and his arms shaking as he held her back.

"Thank you." Laevatein intoned in its mechanical voice.

"It talks!" Lancer sputtered in surprise.

"This is my blade Laevatein." Signum introduced coldly, her anger, which had still been burning low inside her at his previous insult flared slightly at what she saw as a new one. With a surge of strength she pushed Lancer back with her sword, sending a shock wave through her weapon that was intended to break his spear asunder.

The crimson long spear held however, and Lancer took the shove that sent him all the way across the street and into a building in stride, landing feet first and then drooping to the ground below before charging back at her.

Signum wasted no time returning the charge and the two met in the middle of the street with a furry of blows. Circling around and around each other the two fighters danced and spun thrusting and slashing with unparalleled precision and intensity, the number of blows shared between them moving into the hundreds as mere seconds ticked by.

Signum was griping her sword with both her hands alternating flawlessly between offense and defense, her movements direct and powerfully yet graceful and perfect like a dancer. Lancer's movement was also like that of a dancer but it was to a much different rhythm that he fought to, his movements like that of an animal while his spear jabbed and spun, sometimes stabbing, sometimes twirling around like a staff, always between its wielder and the next blow that might finally manage to catch hi,.

"Your own device is good as well. I did not catch its name." Signum remarked as they battled around each other, weapons ringing.

"My device?" Lancer said quizzically as he dodged Signums sword by a few inches. "What are you talking about?"

Signums eyes narrowed at the man's claim and put more force into her next slash, making Lancers arms nearly buckle when he blocked it.

"Still." He said, sounding slightly strained as he danced backwards avoiding her next, even stronger blow that had been meant to batter him the same way he had done to Erio. "Its not everyday that you meet a talking sword. Are you sure that's not a Noble Phantasim?"

Signum, unfamiliar with the word only narrowed her eyes more and did not answer.

With a final strike she succeeded in forcing Lancer back again, the two opponents taking the time to study each other instead of attacking immediately. Inside her Signum was feeling a mix between exhilaration, mild irritation and confusion.

Her opponents spear work was superb, she had not fought anyone with this level of mastery for a very long time, and the man obviously had the spirit of a fighter (Likely to much in fact) but at the same time something was strange. He was this strong and yet he could not fly, he had made several strange comments and his device... Normally in ancient Belka it was customary to introduce your device along with yourself once your opponent had done the same. Such was customary and part of a Knights reputation lay in the repute and capability of his device so it was always introduced almost without exception, so why...?

"You will not introduce your device?" Signum asked, posing a question that would hopefully dispels this confusion and get his intentions out into the open.

"Again with this device thing?" Lancer asked sounding irritated in return now. "I really have no idea what you're babbling about."

Signum blinked and lowered her sword a fraction of an inch. "You cannot be serious. Where is your pride as a Knight if you have not even given your weapon a name?"

"My spear?" Lancer asked as if confirming what she was talking about. "Of course my spear has a name!" He paused for a moment looking honestly offended, and then his face split into a wicked smile.

"Would you like to hear it?"

Signum narrowed her eyes again as Lancer suddenly adjusted his stance.

Pointing his spear right at her he angled it strangely so that its tip was facing her feet. "Behold, my _Noble Phantasm_!"

Suddenly Signum became aware of a change in the air. Something was gathering, a dark, bloody, and absolutely lethal feeling was emanating in waves from the spear device that Lancer was holding. Her eyes widening slightly she took in the weapon that he was grasping in his hands. She had noticed it before of course, her sharp eye judging it to be an exquisite weapon from the moment she had laid eyes upon it, but now it seemed to come to life in front of her. The twisting lines that flowed down its length seemed to pulse like veins as the air around them became distorted. The vivid red that colored the spear became so sharp that it seemed like the entire spear from blade to pommel was drenched in fresh blood.

Lancers grin became feral once more.

This was something unexpected. Signums battle instincts were screaming at her, even a child could have understood that if the spear moved she would die. It was not a question of her ability, if the spear moved she _would_ die.

With a flash of speed the Lancer sprang towards her, his spear coming at her driven by its wielders terrible speed. She was not surprised to see that it was glowing.

Sensing her impending death Signum backpedaled. Whatever happened she could not let that spear get close to her while it was like that, this she knew beyond logic. Yet how could she manage that when Lancers foot speed was so great? By now she had discovered that he _was_ faster than her by a small margin, so how?

In less than a second Lancer was before her, his glowing, lethal spear within striking distance now. It could all end very quickly now...

"_Gae-_"

Reacting to the threat with every bit of speed she had Signum flew straight up off the ground like a cruse missile being fired, the wind from her explosive ascent fanning out with the force of a bundle of dynamite.

"_Bolg!_"

The name was shouted and the Blue Knight thrust his lance upward following her accent. There was a rushing of energy but by the time it was called Signum had escaped its reach, now floating a hundred feet up in the air looking down at her enemy below thoroughly disquieted.

What in the name of all the Saint Kings was that? Signum had never felt anything exactly like it before, not in all her hundreds of years of existence. Gae Bolg... the name was not familiar, nor did it sound Belkan, and in all that time that strange device had yet to say a word.

Moreover, his confusion about devices... and what he had called his spear, his "Noble Phantasm" he had said. .

Below her on the ground Lancer cursed staring up at her in consternation. "You _dodged_ me." He looked at her intently for a moment or two before his face twitched into a smile again. "You're fortunate, Signum of the Wolkenritter. Not many can claim to have survived me using that."

"I see." She called down, none of her disquiet making it into her voice. "You rely upon some sort of one hit kill technique? You will find that I will not so easily be defeated by such a trick. However Lancer, now you have tried your hand, how will you fair against mine?"

Holding her sword out Laevatein intoned "Schlangerform!" For the second time that night the blade segmented and stretched, becoming an extneded chain of blades connected by a center core. Twisting it through the air with her hand.

Below her Lancer's eyes widened in surprise at her new move, and Signum descended back to earth in a rush, Laevatein coiling around her in a web of steel links.

Lancers spear work was probably the best she had ever seen, and with the great range that Gea Bolg provided him it was difficult even with her skill and speed to get in close enough to strike him with her sword.

But Signum was more than a sword fighter. She was a General, a Knight who excelled in almost every field of combat their was, whether it be swordsmanship, or Archery, or even a long range melee weapon.

Jerking in surprise as she landed accompanied by Laevatein's twisting length Lancer jumped backwards.

With a flick of her wrist Signum swung her sword-whip and it extended link by link chasing him with the speed of a striking snake as he dodged away.

"Keh!" Lancer deflected the whip sword with a snarl and charged back at her with his spear extended, his outline blurring in his mad rush. With a cool swipe Signum lashed out at him again, and then again and again, her sword twisting into coils that cut it forcing Lancer to halt his advance lest he be cut from four angles at once. Then, moving her hand in rhythm to keep up her swords twisting movement she swung once more and then yanked her sword-whip back creating a cage of blades that closed in on Lancer from five angles at once.

It was a deadly trap, and one that she often executed as the sure finish to her enemy's, trapping them in a surrounding cage of blades and then pulling it tight on them.

It was not enough however. With the reflexes of a wild beast Lancer pushed off the ground with a twist and curled his arms and spear around his chest, slipping though on of the sideways gaps in the cage and landing unharmed outside it, his eyes blazing.

Seeing her trap had failed Signum yanked her sword whip back and lashed out again before Lancer could take advantage of its overextended position.

Seeing the whip coming at him again Lancer twisted once more, shooting out of the way and trying to get around this new obstacle Laevatein provided.

What followed was the best display of acrobatics that Signum had possibly ever witnessed. Lashing out with her fluid sword again and again Signum set about filling the air with her blade in every possible angle that she could maneuver it into. The situation had reversed now, with Signum holding the position in long range while Lancer was forced to parry and move faster with his shorter weapon. The pink haired Knight pressed her advantage, laying about with her whipblade with everything she had, making it come in from the right, now the top, now the left and the right at the same time in a slithering weave of death that not even a bird could have escaped.

No matter how she attacked with her whip however, Lancer always found a way to escape. He was like an animistic dancer now, jumping and moving and twirling his spear in ways that Signum had never seen before. To the Knight in blue, it was as if he did not even need to see the attack to dodge it, did not need to lay eyes on it to deflect, moving like he was the wind all her strikes fit like puzzle pieces into his flawless battle dance.

Watching him hold of her determined assault Signum felt her blood stir harder with enthusiasm. Lancer... She found herself adjusting her opinion of him.. She was going all out now, fighting with every bit of her skill, forcing him onto the defense in an assault more ferocious than she had given to anyone except Fate in a hundred years. Whoever he was this Knight was beyond even the other Knights of her era, a warrior whose defensive skill rivaled anything she had ever seen before.

Finishing her attack with one last powerful lash which he blocked with the side of his spear Signum stopped once more and regarded Lancer.

He was as tense as a drawn bowstring, almost crouching as he held his spear with both hands, his eyes shining with battle lust on a level that Signum would never approve of. As if focused by his intense expression the air around them seemed to be boiling with his intent.

"I have underestimated you Lancer. Despite your reluctance, I will ask to know your name."

Lancer grinned and barred his teeth at her request. "Heh. I suppose, since you know the name of my Noble Phantasm there is no hiding it any more. Very well." He said drawing himself upright. Brandishing his spear at her he declared in a proud voice like someone pronouncing a death sentence. "I am the legendary Son of Long Light, the Hound of Ulster, Cuchulain!"

With a bloodthirsty shout the self proclaimed legend charged, slipping under the strike that Signum sent at him with her whip and lunging in at her with his spear thrust out to impale her though the stomach.

*Scene *

On the ruble strewn floor of the warehouse Bazett stirred. Opening her eyes groggily she blinked once or twice before focusing. How had she come here? She had been searching for her enemy and then everything had gone black... she had been knocked out.

Right next to her she could hear the sounds of a magecraft of battle going on, and she recognized the voice of Rin shouting an incantation at some unseen opponent who was firing what sounded like lasers from a sci fi movie in return. It could only be the woman who had incapacitated her earlier.

Trying to get to her feet Bazett found that she could not move and looked down at her arms. Around her entire body what looked like glowing bands of energy had wrapped themselves restraining her arms and legs. She was trapped.

Cursing softly in her head she struggled against the bonds slightly testing them for any weak points that she could possibly exploit, her mind already setting about trying to decide how to best free herself. She strained slightly and then lay still. Her bonds were made from what appeared to be pure prana, and they flowed together perfectly in a way that allowed for no weak points. This was going to be difficult.

Gritting her teeth slightly Bazett flexed her fingers and found to her relief that she could still move them within a decent range. It was tricky, but after a little experimentation she was able to bring her finger up and work her arm into a position that put great pressure on one hand but allowed some small freedom of movement to the other.

This would take concentration.

Bazett closed her eyes, reached into that place deep inside her and envisioned a chisel being driven into stone. Prana surged through her magical circuits rushing through her body and settled into her fingertip with which she began to trace as lightly as possible over the cord that bound her. If she was going to fit it all on properly then she would have to write very small. Bazett traced, and traced, stopping every so often to make sure that her finger was not shaking from the strain of maintaining her awkward angle.

Finally she completed the last character in the Gaelic word 'sever' and with a mental command activated the rune work she had completed.

With a sizzling one of the cords binding her arm snapped and then disappeared. She sighed when she realized that she was still not free, but with one cord down moving her hand to trace another rune combination was only easier. In a few minutes she was free, brushing herself off and looking around.

Sure enough she was still in the warehouse that she had been searching earlier, apparently now taken back almost all the way to the entrance. Only a few dozen yards away was Rin Tohsaka, engaged in what looked to be an intense duel with the same woman who's illusonary trap she must have fallen into earlier.

Both were throwing countless bullets of energy at each other, Rin from her fingertip and the enemy Magus from what looked like a _gun. _While Rin was pumping out her volleys of Gandr shot faster than the other Magus seemed able to, the orange haired woman was compensating by occasionally conjuring large shields of prana out of thin air, and shooting back every now and then with large beam's that Rin couldn't match.

Any way one looked at it, she had a score to settle.

Gathering prana into the runes writ on her gloves and leggings Bazett charged, covering the distance between her and the orange haired Magus rapidly.

A voice that seemed to come from her gun of all things called out "Mistress!" in warning and the Magus turned rapidly popping off a shot at her as she turned, her face full of alarm.

With a rapid punch Bazett shattered the prana bolt that had been sent her way and closed the distance between them just as the Magus turned to face her and started backpedaling away desperately.

It was to late, and with a single punch to the head that would have caved open the skull of any ordinary person Bazett sent the TSAB Magus into a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Thank you Mc Remits" Rin said walking over and staring down at the unconscious woman. "She was a troublesome one. I don't like the look of our odds if this is to be our average in enemy's."

"It cant be helped." Bazett said also looking down at her. Bending over she pried the gun like Mystic Code from her hands and examined it.

"Criminal adversary's!" A dull mechanical voice from the gun rung out nearly making Bazett drop it. "Release me immediately!"

"Oh, yes." Rin said her voice lighting up in curiosity. "One of those. They talk quite frequently don't they."

"It is very unusual. Is it some sort of computer?"

"I think so." Rin said. "They have combined magic with technology to an incredible degree in this place."

Bazett held it up and together they both briefly examined it with fascination. It was smooth, metallic and double barreled and for a moment it sat gleaming in their hands. Suddenly it blurred and shrunk, loosing its shape and transforming itself into a card in front of their eyes.

"Incredible." Rin breathed, looking at it with more fascination than ever.

Bazett nodded and then tossed it to Rin who pocketed it. "We need to go." To her, a member of the northern Irish Mage clan and an enforcer by trade she was not quite as deeply caught up in magical curiosity as Rin was. The sounds of battle raging outside were far more important.

"Of course." Rin said turning to venture father into the warehouse. She paused briefly, looking down at the unconscious Magus again and then back up at Bazett.

"Shouldn't we..."

"No." Bazett said firmly looking down at her. "Even though she is an enemy she spared my life. I will return the favor for now."

Rin nodded hesitantly but did not challenge her. For Bazett fulfilling her sense of justice was worth taking risks over.

"We need to go. Rin, I have been a long way down that hall. It goes on and on without any sign of ending. If a Servant attacked this place and could not find the Grail then I don't think we could before more TSAB agents show up. We need to pull out."

"What?" Rin screeched, her mouth falling open. "We just got here! After all that you want to leave now?"

"Its been to long." Bazett said shaking her head. "These TSAB Mages were aware of the attack from the moment Berserker and Mahail assaulted this place, we got here only fifteen minutes after Mahail did and the TSAB beat us here. Right now Archer and Lancer are engaged with agents powerful enough to hold them off, in the next few minuets reinforcements are going to arrive and if we are still there by then we will be captured. This place is to big to find the grail in without a Servant to cover the ground quickly."

Rin ground her teeth. "Aright. Lets get out out of here."

Together the two Mages picked there way back to the entrance of the warehouse and looked out. What had been an intact parking lot before they had gone in was now a cratered ruin that looked like it had been strafed by bombers. Of to the side, in one of the few still relatively intact portions of the area, two figures were going at it, both of them blurs, one of pink and the other of blue, the two fighters movements on a level of speed that was to high for the human eye to follow accurately.

Were they not both veteran witnesses to Servant battles neither of them would probably have noticed the helicopters that were swiftly growing larger in the distance.

"Rin!"

"Right." Rin said. Making a few gestures with her hand she called out suddenly "Archer get over here!"

It was not a command seal but a simple order given through her voice projection technique, and it it took a few moments before Archer materialized by her side. The red Knight of the bow was not unscathed, with a trickle of blood running down his face. "Master?"

"We are leaving. Now."

"Of course." Archer said giving the helicopters a glance. They had arrived with remarkable speed and even now appeared to be unloading.

"Lancer!" Bazett called. In the middle of the fray the blue blur leapt back from its opponent and nodded its head.

"We are going! Disengage or finish her off!"

The red haired spear hound clicked his toughe in distaste. "Sorry, Signum. But my master is calling." He said apologetically to the woman he had been fighting. Bazett looked over to see what kind of Mage could have succeeded in holding off Lancer by herself for so long and got a jot of surprise. She had been expecting to see some exhausted bloody Mage who was at their last rope from having fought a Servant by now. Instead, standing tall and proud with a strange long sword clutched firmly in her hand was a woman in a strange almost Knightly outfit.

"You think you can just escape, Cuchulain?"

Bazett blinked in surprise. This... Knight _knew his name_.

"I am afraid that's the case even if I don't like it. Feel free to follow us, but I cant guarantee that that underhand guy" He said gesturing to Archer. "Will allow us to have a fair fight with each other."

With that Lancer sprung away, crossing the lot in a single jump and landing gracefully next to her.

"Lets go!" With that Lancer slung one of his arms around Bazetts waist and jumped away. Bazett felt the ground vanish from under her feet, and heard the whoosh as Archer followed them. They were away. At least...

"Archer!"

Bazett whipped her head around looking behind them. With a whoosh of displaced air a large dark skinned figure swooped out of the night and slammed into Archer dealing him a flying roundhouse kick to the chest.

The impact sent him flying back, and Rin, who had been holding on to him fell backwards as well.

Bazetts eyes widened as she saw Rin claw the air as she dropped, a look of alarm on her face. With a single jump their Servants had brought them over a hundred feet high, a fall from this distance would be fatal unless Rin knew some trick.

As a matter of fact, Rin did have a trick up her sleeve. For a Magus of her caliber manipulating air pressure to slow her fall was child's play, and if worse came to worse she could reinforce her body to withstand the impact.

But Rin never got a chance to employ any of this. The dark skinned man, sporting silver armor on his arms and legs as well as a pair of _wolfs ears_ sprouting from his head, dove and caught her easily before she fell more than a few feet.

Bazett however was not in a position to stay and watch this play out. Lancer, as agile as he was, was in a mid air jump and had no way to change his direction or stop. And so the two watched helplessly as the figures of Rin and Archer receded.

Below them on the ground Archer hit the cement with a crash, his black armor absorbing some of the impact nicely. Wasting no time he sprung to his feet and materialized his bow, his eyes darting into the sky above. Rin was there, held in the arms of the one who had attacked him.

Drawing it back he took time, aiming to place a shot right in between the eyes of the wolf man when a voice behind him interrupted. "Stop right there!"

Wheeling around with his bow still pulled tight, he was greeted by the sight of the pink haired Knight, her sword drawn and pointed at him.

As soon as he turned and began to level his bow she shot forward, deflected his arrow at point blank range she slashed him from the shoulder to the chest with her sword carving through his armor drawing blood.

Gasping he thew his bow away and summoned his two swords into his hands but it was to late. With irresistible strength the pink haired Knight grasped him by the arm and slammed him into the ground.

"You are under arrest." She said coldly, placing one of her feet on top of him and pining him to the ground with it.

"Archer!" Rin shouted from above. "Dematerialize!"

Straining his head to look upwards from his position he saw Rin gazing at him fiercely from above still grasped inescapably in the arms of the much larger man. It was a combination of command and resignation. Her look carried everything in it he needed to know.

Cutting off his own prana intake from his Master Archer abandoned his physical from, the pink haired Knight giving a startled "What?"as he dissolved.

*Scene *

Standing under the awning of a building some ways away Lancer and Bazett gazed out at the warehouse they had just fled from, the tall Irish Servant pacing around in agitation while he fingered his spear.

In a swirl of red Archer was suddenly there, standing before them with blood dripping down his torso. The moment he appeared he fell back against the wall, his face dark.

"Archer!" Bazett demanded. "Where is Rin?"

"My Master has been taken captive by the enemy." He said simply, beginning to inspect his wound.

"Well?" Lancer demanded. "Lets go!"

"And where would that be Servant of the Lance?" Archer returned.

"What do you mean? To rescue your Master of course!"

"... It is not that simple. Rin has been taken captive by a large force, containing both of our adversary's who held up back before as well as many others now. At this point rescue would be... inadvisable."

Lancer snorted. "Is that your excuse? Don't joke Archer, we must return, no more _playing_, let us spit them on out Noble Phantasms like pigs! Show them our strength as Hero's and reclaim your Master!"

"Fool." Archer said giving Lancer a hard look. "How will you fight the Knight who you could not defeat before as well as an army alongside her?"

"Lancer, please." Bazett interrupted just before her Servant had a chance to reply. "Archer is right. What will you do?"

Archer looked back towards the Warehouse they had just come from, helicopters were circling in the sky and more were coming even as they stood there.

"... I will dematerialize, follow Rin and find a way to free her. For now we must part ways."

He got up to leave but hesitated for a moment. "Find Saber and her Master." He said at last. "Without us they should be happy to join up with you."

"Right." Bazett said.

Without another word Archer stepped forward and disappeared, his spirit soaring into the sky in pursuit of his Master.

*Scene *

"Commander Hayate, the situation appears to have come under control." One of the aids announced.

"Thank goodness." Hayate muttered. "What is the situation?"

"The terrorists have fled and we have lost track of them, we have taken one prisoner however, structural damage to the warehouse seems to be severe. Stars 4 has been knocked unconscious but seems to be suffering no permanent damage. Her barrier jacket is... holding."

"Very good." Hayate said siting down into her chair with a feeling of relief. She had not even really needed to ask for he situation as everything recorded on any device in the area was being broadcast to her. So she had watched the entire incident in a roller coaster of alarm.

They were facing Knights again. Signum herself had confirmed so and from the way the one in blue fought they were up against a terrible warrior the likes of which was not present in this age anymore...

It was a scary thought. Like a repeat of the Book of Darkness incident. She only could hope that whatever it was they were fighting for this time was not as bad as the Book of Darkness had been.

Chewing the inside of her lip slightly Hayate glanced up back at the screes before her. There was some interesting material in these recordings. Especially in some of what the two mystery women had said right in front of Teana's still active Device...

And then there was the prisoner. This was a great leap forward for them. Briefly looking up at the screen that was depicting Zafira still holding his captive she studied the captured Mage for a little. Long dark hair, sharp features, elegant but inconspicuous clothing... She would have to see to being present at her interrogation, after all this time she felt she wanted to see the enemy face to face.

...But before that she would have to check on Vita.

*Scene *

_And that. Is. It. This is the last chapter published under this name. After this I start the re-write in earnest. _

_As you can probably tell, this was not actually how the 15th chapter was meant to go, I removed a great deal to make this a conclusion rather than another cliffhanger (Thought the capture of Rin may count as well. Apart from that several other things were cut as well. _

_I would also like to say that I sort of rushed for this chapter. I am actually eager to start the rewrite while my ideas are freash and so this may be a little rougher than usual. Tell me if it feels like a skimped on the narration, because I think I kind of did. I know I said the numbers were coming but in the end the scene really did not require them. As for this chapter, it is enough to say that I finished the fight. So do not consider this the true Chapter 15. _

_And so I leave you here. Until the rewrite. _

_So, among other things what did you think about Rin's development as a mage? With affinity for all five elements and a good deal of power to back them up she has become quite the destructor on top of her more reserved research advancements. _

_As for Signum evading Gea Bolg, it is entirely possible so long as you are not within range when the activation name is uttered. Thus Signum is still alive because by the time the name was activated she was to far away. I know I will get at least a few reviewers going : "Grimgor, its impossible to dodge Gea Bolg!" And then launching into a long lecture about its mechanics as many Fate Stay fans so love to do. For those people in advance:_

_Thank you. I know already. You're not really contributing. _

_Normaly getting out of range of Gea Bolge while Lancer, the second fastest Servant is running at you trying to prevent exactly that, would be impossible for even the fastest speed specialist. Signum had a special ace in the hole in this however, in that she can fly straight up, thus retreating in a direction that Lancer cant reliably follow. _

_Now. On to some other things. From here on down is about the rewrite._

_Several things are going to be different. Over all I hope to make it much more focused. Several OC's will be dropped, (Though not all) This is a bit sad for me, because nearly every OC I introduced was going to have a major role in a future story while this one would serve as their intro. Because of this I will still probably introduce some of them, though they will be little more than footnotes this time around. _

_One thing that will be fixed in the rewrite is Bazett's messed up back-story. At first when I did this I was settled on an alternate universe where Bazett did not drop out of the Magic world after her revival. I think now however that I will follow the cannon version. Its less confusing and it will be more interesting to see what drove her to take up Masterhood again. _

_The other big character change will be that of William Galvin. Man. If there was one character who got changed from my original intention and idea more than I don't know who it is. As a reward from making it this far in the fic I will tell you a little behind the scenes. Originally when I started thinking of a new Master for Saber (I knew almost from day one that I would not be using Shirou) I was actually going to have and Expy of Ginko the mushi Master from Mushi- Shi be Sabers Master. If you don't that anime then look it up. Ginko is a nonchalant traveler/ professor/ shaman/ kind of guy who wanderers the earth applying his semi mystical trade of dealing with spiritual entity's call Mushi, and generally being one cool guy. _

_Although that idea got scraped some of it survives in Will's backpack, which if you noticed in the early chapters was full of nifty little magical gadgets and such. This was a salute to Gins backpack cubord that housed all his shamanistic equipment, and was basically there to have whatever the plot required him to on hand._

_So the question I had was who to give Saber as a Master after Shirou and Kiritugo. One was a jaded veteran who directly opposed her ideals, the other was a younger man who was overly idealistic._

_What I eventually decided upon was someone who was truly morally neutral. And not just morally neutral, but morally apathetic and comfortable as such. A wanderer who cared for little outside his own interests, and despite his love for adventure and seeing new things is ultimately quite selfish._

_Unlike Shirou or Kiritsugo William Galvin was conceived as someone who does not care a whiff for any sort of responsibility or overarching moral code and resents those who try to impose such on him. This was not meant to be a faltering portrayal of a free spirit either. _

_None of this however was developed enough, much of it got left out or twisted in its final form and some of it was just forgotten. In fact an entire character got completely forgotten in the early stages of planning. I plan to fix that in the Re-Write._

_In other words, expect a semi different Will from who you have seen so far and a more populated group that Saber finds herself in. Hope this works out the way I am planing. _

_The Rewrite will be entiteld: _**Fate/Lyrical Crusade**_  
_

_Anyhow, hope to see you there._

Below them on the ground Archer hit the cement with a crash, his black armor absorbing some of the impact nicely. Wasting no time he sprung to his feet and materialized his bow, his eyes darting into the sky above. Rin was there, held in the arms of the one who had attacked him.

Drawing it back he took time, aiming to place a shot right in between the eyes of the wolf man when a voice behind him interrupted. "Stop right there criminal scum! You violated the law! Your spree is at an end. Pay the court a fine or serve your sentence! Your stolen goods are now forfeit."

Turning around Archer was confronted by a stern looking man decked out in medieval armor. No sooner had he done so than his vision zoomed in on the mans face and several options appeared in golden lettering in the side of his vision.

Got to Jail

Resist Arrest.

Pay Gold

Thinking briefly Archer moved his cursor over to "Pay Fine." The moment he did so he noticed the golden number floating in the upper right and corner of his vision the

"Oh." The guard sneered. "It looks like you don't have enough to pay

His vision went momentary dark and when light returned he found that he was inside a small, rather dank prison cell with earthen walls, an iron bar gate and nothing for furniture except a stool and a raged bed role.

Walking over to it he discovered that when he touched it a box appeared in front of his face with the words "Serve your sentence?"

Oh no. No way was he going to stay here.

Checking his inventory briefly Archer was disappointed to find that he had only managed to conceal one lockpick on himself during his arrest. Oh well... one should be enough...

Sneaking up to the iron bars that made his door Archer peered around to make sure that there were no guards present. With none apparent at the time his slyly reached over and slid his lockpick through the bars and into the lock. This should only take a moment...

Slowly picking at one of the tumblers Archer was distracted when something like the sound of a drum went off in his ear.

Your lockpicking skill has advanced to level 6

Oh... well that was a good thing he supposed...

*Snap *

The sound of his lockpick breaking resonated in Archers ears like a toll from the bell of death itself

What?

For the next few minutes Archer paced around the room searching for a way out. In the end however their was nothing. The stone walls were impervious even to his most powerful Broken Phantasms and he had no lock picks.

Finaly there was only one thing for it. Walking over to his raged bedroll dejectedly Archer selected "Yes" on Serving his Sentence. Once again the screen went dark...

Archer awoke to a large box floating in front of his face covered in scrip which read:

Your Mysticism skill has decreased by 35

Your Alteration skill has decreased by 18

Your Light armor skill has decreased by 10

Your Blades skill has decreased by 59

None of these were what truly bothered him however, it was the foot note at the bottom which read

You Alchemy skill has decreased by 84

Archer blinked and began to hyperventilate. Alchemy... in this world that covered more than the magical art. Quickly, panic making him fumble he flew to his inventory and cheked his cooking recipes.

Red.

All of them now possessed red writhing tags on them informing him that his skill level was no longer high enough to make them.


	16. I'm alive!

Rin Tosaka cursed softly as she reclined in her chair beside the empty fireplace gazing at the design that was now emblazoned on the back of her hand.

Seventeen years ago she been a dark haired, sharp nosed Japanese teenager with a tendency to dress elegantly in reds and a habit of holding her head generally higher than those around her.

The years had changed her only slightly. Though she had indeed become a woman and was now 34 Rin's eyes were still that of a temperamental teenager and while her voice had changed picking up something of an English accent from her long years in the Clock Tower, her tongue had lost none of its sharpness.

She was at the moment alone in her room. Her private quarters in the Clock Tower that she had called her own for the past six years were quite well furnished with red carpet and various expensive articles that plainly said the occupant had both money and the will to spend it.

A further analysis of the room at the moment would also suggest to any medieval doctor that Rin Tohsaka suffered from a clear bodily imbalance of yellow bile. Which is to say she was bad tempered. As of now her room looked as though a fight had broken out. A vase lay smashed against the far wall, a delicate looking chest of drawers had evidently been turned over and jumped up and down on till the wood cracked and clothes inside spewed out everywhere, a sturdy armoire in the corner had been blasted to pieces sending wood debris all over the room and finally the wall around the door seemed to have been scored by large gunshots.

Rin had done all of it herself the night before.

It was the symbols that had appeared upon the back of her hand that were the source of her fit of rage. Three vivid crimson shapes unmistakably etched onto her flesh that she was _very_ familiar with and now almost fearful of.

She knew what they were almost the moment she felt the burning. Command Seals. Rin had been in the middle of giving a lecture when she felt it, and after 17 years the command spells sudden appearance had come as such a shock that she had run out of her own classroom a moment latter much to the astonishment of her students.

Rin had not left her room since the incident and had ignored all attempts to get her to come out so far.

She had hopped fervently for a short time that it was a mistake. Searching for a suitable theory that might cover this she had hypothesized that perhaps when they had destroyed the Grail seventeen years ago some of it had been left intact. Maybe some part had survived the official dismantling by Waver Velvet seven years ago and was now mechanically handing out useless Command seals because it mistakenly thought the next war was up.

That hope was dispelled completely when a letter had arrived for her in the mail. Still secluded in her room the delivery man had risked life and limb daring her angry threats and shouts that she didn't want any bloody mail at the moment, thank you. He had persisted however and in the end curiosity had overcome her anxious sulk.

Upon opening it however, she had revived a shock even worse than the first one. All her internal theories about a malfunctioning part of the grail still being left over were dashed in a few seconds.

Contained in the letter, written in a sharp flowing hand she had discovered a full description of the Grail and its capability's, a detailed outline of the Servant classes, a description of the Master Servant relationship, a copy of the incantation preferable to summon a Servant with and an invitation to Japan complete with money for first class plane tickets.

All of it was topped off by the intro, a three paragraph long speech informing her that she had been lucky enough to be chose as a worthy Master by the Grail and that through participation all the wishes of the victor would be fulfilled.

She had taken the letter first with utter disbelief and shock followed by an explosion of rage that she had vented on her furniture. Now, the day after she simply sat in her chair gazing at her command spells with a mixture of feeling that she could not even begin to describe.

The Grail. Was. Back.

Somehow the Grail was back.

This changed everything.

Closing her eyes softly Rin let out a long breath, one that felt like she had been holding it for days. She would have to get to Japan, she would have to inform Waver, she would need to accumulate all her resources, she would have to get to the bottom of this, she would have to...

Rin opened her eyes and gave her command seals another look.

She would have to summon a Servant.

Getting to her feet Rin tossed the invitation letter into the fire, incinerated it with an idle flick of her wrist and then strode from her room.

She would also have to inform the faculty that her class was now canceled.

*Scene *

_Okay guys, I am back, but not really. I am posting this to let you know that I am still alive and quite active. This fic is not dead by any stretch of the imagination. I have been working on it, and though it has been inactive for long weeks from time to time, it is still going and picking up speed. As of now I have three chapters finished, but I am waiting to get a good amount finished before I start releasing them, as well as securing a good Beta, something I have had considerable trouble with. _

_In any case, thank you all for your extreme patience, and to those who had lost hope for this story, I assure you it is still being worked on and **will** be completed. _

_The above is a sample of the revised story. Tell me what you think. _

_I apologize for the chapter 17 mix up.  
_


	17. Im Alive! part 2

Note: The below is simply a One Shot which you may or may not be interested in. For news on the Rewrite go to the bottom.

Water. Like a living thing it pored and surged forward in a steady irresistible mass. Millions and millions of gallons of water rolling onwards with the speed of a plodding beast, sweeping along all in its path as it made its way to the sea, the inevitable destination of all rivers.

It was into this heaving, frothing world of water that the man jumped, his body plunging into to the all consuming element of Apsu with a fatal splash.

Down, down under the water he dove a man, lean, strong, impervious to fear and invincible in body diving headlong into the muddy depths below.

A tiny stream of bubbles passed though his lips as he went down further, his arms working with steady powerful strokes to propel him further into the realm of the gods.

Deep down under the murk something stirred.

The man paused only briefly, squinting into the blackness with his dark eyes before resuming his dive. The mud of the river bed was rising all around him now like a black cloud, cutting him off from the light of the sun which filtered down from the world of air and warmth above him. He was completely alone.

Still he pressed on, pausing again to briefly loosen the stones that he had tied around his wrists with slender leather straps. He had practice in this at least, though this time they were not around his feet.

Finally, reaching the blackest portion of the water beneath him, the mans hands touched the silty bed of the holy river, and he readjusted himself till his feet touched the bottom and he could stand upright.

He was here. He had reached the bottom, all around him the river tugged and churned at the earth like a massive invisible hand, trying to pull him along and eroding the silt out from under his feet even as he stood upon it.

It was almost utterly dark.

Almost. About him a faint hallow of light appeared to be floating as though he had brought some small few drops of the sun down with him into the river. It was not the yellow light of the sun however that was illuminating the water. This light was a deep rich, alien red, like the light from a glowing volcano, or some deep and dire pit of hell.

The man smiled and seemed to shudder for a moment, before locating the source of light, a small, red glowing patch situated in the mud before him. He stared at it for a second before working his way over and reaching out.

"Stay your hand Sarrum." The voice that spoke out of the murk was deep, deeper than the roar of the river itself, and superhuman in its intensity, louder than thunder its whisper would have broken the bones of any man who heard it and stricken them dead with its force. Moreover, it was clearly heard, as if it had been spoken into the open air or launched directly into the mind of its victim.

The man lifted his eyes from his prize and turned undaunted towards the walls of murk surrounding him.

He could not answer back, surrounded as he was by Aspu's sacred element, but his eyes portrayed no fear.

"What you have come here to filch is not for the likes of men to possess. Even one so great and so favored by the gods as you. Swim away, go back, back to the sunlight which was made for you."

The water was churning in earnest now as something immense made its way across the riverbed towards him.

Something like a brief cloud of doubt passed over the face of the man, but in the next instant, he spread his legs apart to gain better purchase in the silty bed, and raised one fist in challenge.

The curing water before him stilled, and the man, after watching carefully for a time bent down reaching out for the glowing patch of mud.

In that instant the water exploded. Massive it was, with no shape that could be described, its head was like a monstrous crocodile but set with seven eyes and far to many snouts, which speckled the length of its elongated jaw like warts. The beast opened its mouth wide and snapped down upon the man, enclosing him in its folds and sending up a huge plume of silt as it did so. The man was gone.

Within its mouth, the man struggled and fought his way to the rows of the beasts teeth, grasping them and prying apart with his unmatched god given strength. The beast growled, as its mouth began to buckle before the mans unquestionable might.

He might have broken free then, but the man suddenly let out a great gout of bubbles from his mouth as the water was filled with crimson fluid. The creatures tongue had shot towards him, impaling him through the shoulder like a harpoon with a spike set upon the end. His eyes flashed in pain and desperation as the tongue began to coil, drawing him back into the monsters gullet.

"I will not rejoice in your death Sarrum." The creature spoke, its voice carrying perfectly though its jaws never opened to permit any chance of escape. "Indeed this will surely be my end as well as yours, for which of the gods would allow me to live after having so stained this river with the blood of their favorite? Yet I cannot allow you to have that which you would."

His eyes blazing in anger, the man grasped at the tongue which had pierced his precious flesh, and with a savage yank rent it apart.

The body of the creature ripple in a tremor of pain, but otherwise made no sign that it had been injured. The cage of fangs which trapped him between the roof of the east mouth and the bottom loosed tighter, denying him room to move freely. With a look of worry, the man glanced over at the tongue and beheld that it was now pulling itself back together.

Scraping his way over to the teeth of the beast the man pounded at them futility, his eyes were stained with his own blood now, while his lungs burned for lack of oxygen and his strength faltered. Kicking off from the side of the beasts mouth he wormed his way towards the other side, to pry from a different angle when he saw it.

It was a gap in the tooth wall, a place where either decay or injury had served to cut away the jaws for the monster leaving a hole though which he could perhaps fit. There was a swish in the water around him, as the tongue, regenerated as if it had never been torn, shot passed him, only just missing his heart, and scoring a gash in the mans side.

Sweeping his legs back and fourth now with desperation, the man forced his way into the gap between the monsters teeth, griping the outside of its fangs with his arms and kicking away the tongue that attempted to coil around his feet. In the next instant he was free, his arms and legs fling apart as he escaped the confines of the creatures enormous mouth.

There was no time to celebrate however. His lungs were on fire, his eyes burning. Everything was in pain, and as he thrashed and turned once more on his foe, he caught a full glimpse of its vast and hideous bulk. All the color drained out of his face. He had dove in believing that his strength and daring would be enough for any foe, but the thing before him could not be killed by any mans strength, no matter how great. It would take a power found only in the gods to slay such a being, even if it were somehow dredged up from its watery home. Even the giant Huwawa seemed like he would have been dwarfed by the flesh of this creature. He wondered briefly what god had fashioned such a peril, before ducking quickly as the monster leveled on of its great taloned paws and raked the silt bed where he was standing.

"You will not escape mortal."

But wait. If this being was beyond his own power, then perhaps the power that he had come to extend his Kingly Right towards would be the means of his triumph over this contemptuous puppet slave of the gods. Stopping briefly to tear the stones from his wrists he thrust with all four limbs propelling himself with great speed back to the position where he had last seen the glow.

The monster snarled, a horrible noise to hear even for one such as him, and made another sweeping rake toward him with its claws, but it had already kicked up to much silt from its last failed attempt and had blinded itself.

Seeing perhaps that it had foiled its own efforts the beast erupted in rage, its claws curing the water around him as he swam towards the crimson glow. It was only via some miracle or stroke of divine luck that he was not torn to shreds by those ivory claws as they passed by him again and again, blindly seeking his body in the muck to pick apart and destroy.

Yet there he was. Standing over the glowing path of ground, the man poised triumphantly over his goal his heart pounding wildly.

As he thrust his arm down into the soft silt, the beast bellowed one last time louder than any roar it had given before, its voice seemed big enough to drown out the whole river along its entire course and echo in far on into the fathoms of Ocean beyond.

But right now, the man was beyond the reach of that noise, no mater how great, for his hand had closed around a hilt and with a single triumphant tug he brought fourth the artifact.

The man nearly released the air from his tortured lungs at the sight of the thing. It was curiously shaped, like nothing he had ever quite seen before, with a splendid golden handle and a blade of pure jet shaft, set with pushing red cuneiform from which the red light was being thrown.

He knew the moment it was in his hand what he was holding. A treasure without equal, a relic from before the world ever was, and suddenly, the beast before him which was even now hurtling its entire gargantuan self down upon him to crush him under thousands of tons of scale and flesh seemed insignificant...

He did not so much swing the sword as _unleash_ it.

The river roared, the earth screamed, and suddenly there was breathable air around him. The man, battered, bloody and gasping for air just managed to stay upon his feet as the water drained away from around him. He was in a the center of a vortex of wind so intense that it drilled a hole in the river itself and turned the silt bed into firm earth. Where the beast had gone he did not even know. It had been blasted away so thoroughly that not eve a scrap of its flesh remained to rot away or feed the scavengers. Scoured from existence as if it had never been. And now the sword was effortlessly holding even the mighty and sacred power of the river at bay, denying it flow within its own banks.

It was with a flood of exultation that the man regained the bank treasure in hand, holding it aloft like a torch. He did not even care that there were no crowds to see him and exalt, for he knew that in that moment the eye of every god was upon him. In the sky, under the earth and from all the wide rivers and seas of the world the gods were turning to gaze at this new triumph. Let _them_ wonder at this new treasure of his. With the echoes that this day would make, surly the news of this treasure would reach down even into the underworld to reach the ears of his entombed friend.

Gaining the shoreline once more, the great King fell down amidst the grasses, exhausted. Lifting the sword over his head to admire its strange workings more closely, he ran his fingers up and down the still lightly turning segments.

"I will call you... Ea. Because I drew you out of_ his_ realm." The King Smiled to himself almost boyishly in that moment as he spoke its new title aloud.

"Ea the Sword of Gilgamesh!"

*Scene *

Well guys, its been a _long_ time. Almost a year now? _More_ than a year now? Incredible but it has been about a full year since I have last posted anything for this story. Wow...

The above is not really a part of the story, well it might work its way in, but really It just a one shot I came up with a long time ago about Gilgamesh actually gaining Ea. I basically put it in to avoid violating the rule about posting chapters with no story content. In any case You might be going "Eh? He found it in a freaking river? That's not how I imagined it at all. To the Babylonians though, the Euphrates was basically the source of all existence. The River was... everything. And the deity Ea himself, who Gilgamesh named his nameless treasure after was strongly associated with water, and the Euphrates in general.

All that aside, Basically I need to get off my butt and start working on my story more.

Good news in that regard however, for a lot of this past year I have been without a laptop and typing from my Desktop, something that just did not feel quite the same. I have recently acquired a new laptop however and with this sweet engine of computing I think I should be able to get back into the groove.

In any case I have not been completely idle in the past year and I have a good bit of material for the new version of the story. In any case, as of now I should be in full production mode to get this done and I'm going to try and get the story out by Christmas.

Thank you all for your tremendous patience, and wish me luck. Time to buckle down.

(It might be slightly petty of me, but I see that after a full year of inactivity this fic still holds the most reviews of any Fate Stay Night/ Nanoha crossover. That's kind of... perversely satisfying.)

After this, if all goes well I will only be posting one more chapter under this title to tell you the names of the rewrite.


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